The Days After
by Omnislash024
Summary: As the Highwind is jolted from the sky by the deadly magics that hover over Midgar, the party is tossed and sepreated into many directions. As each of them tries to recover and deal with their own feelings on the events, will a new enemy take advantage of
1. The Minute After

The Days After

by: Omnislash

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter 1-

The Minute After

  
  


Cid clutched his cigar to his mouth. 

"Shit", he yelled.

Before him and the rest of the group, the city of Midgar was being decimated by Meteor and Holy. The swirling colrs of red made by Meteor and the pale white-green, made by Holy, were shredding Midgar to pieces. Shrapnel flew, metal buckled, all before the awesome power of those magics. 

"MAR-LEEENE", cried Barret, a giant of a man, with just about as much personality. His darkened face betrayed his thoughts, tears in his eyes. It was unlike this big man to cry, but the thought of his daughter getting caught in the middle of this armageddon was just to much to bear. 

Cloud and the others looked at him with a surprised look, but he wasn't completely shocked over it. The whole thing had caused a psycological effect on each and everyone of them. Red XII, a bright red wolf like creature, with a lion's mane, had lost his grandfather, Bugenhagen. Vincent, a former Turk, now dressed in black cthothes and wearing a red cloak abd shaw over his mouth, had lsot his beloved Lucrecia and just recently finding out that it had been caused by the mad scientist Hojo. Cid, a middle aged thin man, losing his dream, but recently granted another chance at it. Barret, losing former AVALANCHE members, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie and then finding his long lost friend Dyne, only to lose him again. And now Marlene… hadn't he suffered enough?

Yuffie had also suffered, he thought. She had wanted Wutai to become proud of it's heritage and itself again. And although she didn't have much to do with Sephiroth, Cloud knew that she wanted to fight for her homeleand, no matter how much she tried to hide it. 

Cloud looked at Tifa. They had finally found each other, after all these years. He didn't know that she had had feelings for him, nor did she know that he wanted her to like him. But they had finally opened up to each other in the Lifestream. She had helped him, like no other could have. He owed her more then he could ever repay. And now they were together. He would protect her, he thought. Always.

Cait Sith broke the silence.

"I had everyone in Midgar relocate to the slums", he said, but then trailed, shaking his head, "but the way things are now…"

Red XII stood, ready for action. 

"Forget Midgar," he barked," We have to worry about the planet!"

He was right. The carnage that hovered over Midgar would only spread, causing even more devastation. Cloud and party had done all they could. Sephiroth was dead. Shinra had been destroyed, their Mako reactors shut off for good. But the planet didn't know that. The planet wanted to make sure. The planet wanted to cure itself of the machine made cancer, as well as destroy the CAUSE of it. Mankind.

"There's nothing more we can do," Cloud thought, " Man has sealed his own fate."

Cloud turned his back to the whole thing and started to ait for death. At least he would go with dignity, with pride. He looked over at Tifa. He walked over to her and surprised her when he wrapped his arms around her. But then she nestled into his arms. At least he wouldn't die alone. He closed his eyes and waited.

Cloud jolted straight up. Tifa gasped and looked at him.

"What?" Tifa asked.

"I…I feel," he said, "..warm."

Then Tifa gasped again. "Look," she cried.

Cloud looked. The others also ran to see what she had pointed out. A small, faint mist started appearing from the ground. The party looked intently, trying to figure out just what it was. The mist grew, so small at first. So faint. But it continued to flow from the earth, glowing brighter with each second.

"What is it?" asked Cid.

"The Lifestream," stated Cloud.

Cloud was right. It was the Lifestream. More columns of mist began appearing, wafting out from all sections of the earth. 

"How?" Barrett gaped," What could be making the Lifestream gush out like that?"

"Where is it going?" Vincent gave his question.

"I know where it's going," answered Cloud.

"Can't you feel it? He asked, after a brief pause.

The others were searching, but he already knew what they were feeling.

"It's going... to Midgar?" Tifa exclaimed.

More and more columns were appearing from the earth. Each one headed for Midgar. Each one with a mission.

The Highwind soared over the display of light and sound, carrying an astounded crew who wished to see it to the end.

The Lifestream flowed under, over, through, and around Meteor and Holy. Smothering both spells with it's divine holyness and protecting the planet from the destructive forces.

"The planet is fighting back!" Cloud yelled, " The planet doesn't want to die. Everything that lives here, or is a part of that Lifestream doesn't want to be lost!"

"The planet is fightin everything itself!" exclaimed Barrett. "Usually I'm the one trying to defend it but right now, it feels like it's defendin me."

"It's not just you," Tifa answered him,"but everybody who lives here."

"There's also something else that I feel," Cloud said solemnly. Then he spoke. "Her."

"Your right," Barrett agreed. "I didn't want to say anything before, but a few minutes ago I started thinking about her."

"I don't know why," Yuffie chimed in," I didn't even know her that well, but my memories are of her right now."

"That girl..." Cid mumbled. "She was so young."

"So full of life," added Vincent.

"My favorite memories are of her," Red XII admitted.

Cait Sith didn't say anything. He looked at Cloud. He was there at the Ancient Temple. He had caught the look on Cloud's face when he had given them their fortunes. She had also looked very happy that day.

"You're a perfect match," he had told them,"I'll be your matchmaker, preacher, just call me when it all happens."

"It's her," Cloud proclaimed, snapping Cait Sith back into the present, "Aeris."

Everybody was silent. The feeling was so strong. So happy. From then on everyone knew that it was going to be all right. The planet was going to live.. And so were they.

"Let's not refer to Aeris in the past tense," Cloud ordered," She's always been here with us. Watching us.. protecting us. And now as part of that Lifestream, she is protecting us once again."

Everybody on the planet, not just they, knew that. The people of the earth could feel her warm presence too. They all opened their eyes.

"Flower lady?" asked a small little girl with brunette hair and a pink dress. She looked out towards Midgar, from the town of Kalm, and felt safe. "It's the flower lady!"

Back on the Highwind, the party continued to stand in silence. They watched, praying and generally thinking about the girl who had saved them.. And the sacrifice she had paid for it. They were witnessing a miracle.

"Thank you Aeris," Cloud whispered to the air. He closed his eyes.

Then he thought he heard something. It was very faint but he swore that he heard a voice reach him. " "...lcome Clo... . Good.ey.."

Cloud shook his head and when the words ha finally reached his mind he felt the need to answer. 

"Goodbye," he said.

"Cloud," Tifa looked at him, "Who are you talking to?"

"I heard her. She was saying goodbye," he answered, looking back towards Tifa.

"Really?" she asked.

Tifa couldn't tell whether to be awed or to be jealous. She knew could had developed feeling for Aeris, but she hoped that he hadn't loved her.

"Because... I love you," she thought to herself.

That thought shocked her more then anything else that had happened that night. She had to ask. I do? She exclaimed in her mind. And then she answered herself, already knowing. Yes... I do love him.

Suddenly the Highwind jolted.

"Whoa!!" Tifa pleated.

Cloud jumped and caught her, placing her back onto her feet. She looked around and then the situation took hold on her. The Lifestream was making it's final assault on Meteor and Holy and it seemed like the magics weren't going down without a fight.

"That magic is flinging about wildy!" Cid yelled as he grabbed the controls, "it's gonna take some fancy flying to avoid this energy!"

Cid pulled off as many aerial maneuvers as possible to keep the Highwind from being blown out of the sky.

"Guess we shouldn't have gotten so close," Cid complained.

"Just get us the hell out of here!" Cloud shouted.

"Shit, what do you think I'm trying to do?" Cid yelled back

"Trying to make me lose that Super Costa De Sol Burger I had for lunch?" groaned Yuffie, grabbing her stomach and trying to keep it from churning.

Barrett had to grin at that.

"Yo Cid!" he called, "know anymore special moves?"

"Comin right up!" he barked

"urk... damn you.. I'll get you for this..." cried Yuffie

Red took notice and jumped over to the wheezing girl.

"Don't worry," he said, "I'm sure you can take it."

"Yeah... right... upp urk!," was all she could manage to say as she slowly slunk off towards the bridge exit. 

"All joking aside," Cid warned, "It's really all I can do to keep us from getting hit."

As if on cue, a blast from Meteor shot out and rocked the Highwind. Everybody was thrown from their feet. Cloud kneeled up and gave Tifa his hand, helping her to get back up. Vincent had been holding onto the rails.

"Shit!", cursed Cid and Barrett. 

As everybody struggled to their feet Cid shouted orders.

"Status!!!" he commanded his maintenance officers.

"The engines are roughly 45 % percent destroyed," said one oh the men, "There's no doubt. This ship is going down.

"Oh no captain!," shouted another worker hysterically, "there's another blast coming right for us!"

"Damn it!!", Cid pounded the ships controls.

"No! No one dies here today unless I say," Cloud boldly said.

Cloud unsheathed his Ultima Blade. He stood on the deck of the Highwind, looking straight out at the approaching beam of light.

"Cloud... what are you doing?" Tifa started to become afraid.

"I'm keeping my promise.." he whispered to her.

He then rushed forward.

Tifa panicked.

"Cloud? No.. No Cloud.... NO CLOUD!!!," she screamed.

Cloud jumped off the Highwind and sailed through the air. Positioning his blade between him and the beam, he raised it up and at the last possible second, sliced the beam of magic right through the middle. At the other split second he pivoted his blade so that the edges were facing horizontally outward, causing the beam to split in two directions, completely missing the Highwind.

"Do the rest Cid," he blurted to himself as he started to fall unmercifully towards the ground.

  
  


"CLOUD!!!! NOO!!!!," Tifa blared.

She ran towards the edge of the Highwind.

"Cloud.. No Cloud... I'm coming, she repeated.

But then she felt someone grab her by the waist and pull her away. She screamed and kicked and whirled around to see exactly who it was that had stopped her.

"Stop it Tifa!," Barrett yelled, holding her back, Don't be stupid!"

"Let me go!!," she shouted at Barrett, squirming to break his hold. "I... I can save him!"

"No you can't!!" Barrett said loudly. "Stop it!"

" No..let me go.." she pleaded. 

"Tifa, don't do something as foolish as he did. What Cloud just pulled was insane. But he did it for all of us. Especially you. Don't throw away what Cloud wanted you to have... you life," Barrett said more softly.

Barrett's words stuck to her mind. He kept his promise to her. Again. Cloud was always saving her from something. And now, he had kept the danger away from her again. But this time.. At what price? Barrett was right though. Killing herself would only mean she would be throwing away what Cloud had given her repeatedly.

Tifa relaxed. As Barrett finally let her go. With her energy seemingly sucked out of her, she slumped to the cold metal floor.

"Cloud..." she whispered, tears starting to flow from her eyes.

"Hey Tifa...," Barrett tried to console her, " If I know Cloud, he ain't gonna let a simple thing like falling keeping him from living."

Barrett continued after a pause, "So.. You should keep on hoping. Just As I have hope that Marlene is still alive... somewhere out there."

He looked out at the immense sky and started to think about his own missing loved one. 

"Barrett," mumbled a tear ridden Tifa,"thanks......but.....I'd.... I'd like to be alone for awhile."

With that she stood and ran off the deck towards the conference room.

As all this was going on, Cid was still trying to keep the Highwind in the air.

"Can you do it?" asked Cait Sith

"Nope," Cid answered,"There's no doubt that this ship is goin down."

"So.. What are we going to do?" Red questioned.

"Whatta ya think? I'm gonna try to land the damn thing, "Cid growled, "Preferably in one piece!"

Vincent had stood by Cid all that time, as he watched Barrett trying to calm Tifa down.

"Poor Tifa," he mumbled, thinking of Cloud.

"That damn young fool," Cid heard him," But.. I'm gonna make something out of it. I'm not gonna let anyone else suffer."

With that, Cid put clenched his gloves to the controls and used every ounce of his knowledge to keep the Highwind up until he could find a place to land.

At that point, Tifa had already stood up and had run directly out towards the conference room. Barrett, who had nothing else better to do, headed over to where everyone was standing. He didn't like seeing anyone, besides Tifa no less being in that kind of pain, but he knew when to back off.

"This rough ride is getting on my nerves," Barrett told Cid, "Why don't you just land it?"

"Damn you Barrett, " Cid cursed at him, " Don't you know anything? If I land the plane now, at the speed were going, we'd be torn to shreds."

"Well if we stay up here any longer, were bound to be ripped apart by those magics anyway!" he yelled back.

"I don't think so,"Red examined, "The skies have gone quiet."

"Hamm.. he's right," Vincent agreed, " that energy doesn't seem to lashing out anymore."

They were both right. While they had been busy conferring with one another, the Lifestream had succeeded in absorbing all of the magic energies. The Lifestream itself seems to be retreating, confident that it's life preserving mission had been accomplished.

"The planet may be saved," Barrett observed,"and don't get me wrong... I'm overjoyed bout that. But what about us? We're still crashin.

"Godammit Barrett. I'm doing the best I can here," Cid snarled

"Well right now, it ain't good enough!" Barrett bit back.

"Shut up!," yelled Cid, flipping his cigar toward Barrett, "We've been lucky to stay up this damn long with half nearly half the engines blown to hell's kitchen. So shut your mouth!"

"I ain't gonna wait to die!" Barrett shouted, "if your gonna land it, then do it now and let fate decide if I live or die."

"Calm down Barrett," Cait Sith spoke, stepping up to him, "Your not helping matters by yelling at Cid. He's doing all he can."

"Besides, "Red intervened, "That's sound advice coming from someone who just told Tifa not to throw it all away."

"What?" Barrett whirled to face the Red wolf. "You were listening?"

"I've got good ears!," Red answered, his face revealing that he was annoyed by Barretts's attitude.

Red had a point. He did just tell Tifa that suicide wasn't a way out. And now he was considering something like that himself? He paused and then spoke again.

"Doesn't matter," he argued, "I still don't want to stand here and see if we all go down hard."

"I don't care what anyone says," Cid growled again, "I'm gonna keep the highwind intact and in one piece or die trying."

The Highwind lurched again as if to reply to Cid's statement.

"Ugh," red grimaced.

He looked around at the officers still scrambling around... doing whatever they could to help. But he knew the others were right. The ship WAS going to crash.

"Look," Red explained, "I don't think we can stay on this ship. Why don't we all just parachute out?"

"Say, that's an idea!" Barrett held up his left index finger. He had already made up his mind.

"Well Cid?" Vincent gave him a questioning look.

Cid stayed silent for several seconds... but then he turned his head off the controls and looked at the group.

"I said it before," Cid gave his answer," I'm keeping this airship intact. I designed it. I built it. So I'm staying with it."

"But Cid!" Red pleaded with him, "We can't leave you here. There's a very good chance that you could die!"

"The captain always goes down with the ship, " Cid stated again, "Now go!! All of ya's!"

He pointed to the maintenance officers.

"Damn it Cid, we can't just abandon you," Barrett flared again.

"We won't!" Cait Sith shouted with his loud mechanical voice.

"Damn it!!!" Cid shouted loudly, "I'm ordering all of you damn bastards to get the hell off my ship! Get!! I don't have time to fool around!!"

"Let's go Barrett," Cait Sith said, placing his mechanical arm on Barrett's shoulder, "it's what Cid wants."

"Goddamn Shinra idiot," Barrett grumbled, "you just want to up and abandon him?"

"No. Don't misunderstand guys, "Cait Sith spoke, holding up his hand, "Like I said were not gonna abandon him."

"Don't try to force me to leave," Cid warned.

"No. We'll let you land the ship," Cait Sith kept talking, "But your not doing it alone."

"What are you on about Cat?" Barrett asked. His muscles were tensed. He didn't want to leave his friend, but he didn't want to stick around and wait until they crashed either.

"Did you forget?" Cait Sith explained, "I'm mechanical. My real body is at Midgar, remember? So in the event... that things go badly, I won't be killed, only my stuffed body will die."

Red thought about it for a minute. Then he spoke up about it.

"Well...," he mused,"It sounds like the most logical thing to do."

"Please Cid," Cait Sith begged, "if your gonna stay here, at least let me stay and help."

"Well.. if it gets the rest of ya's the hell off this ship, "Cid broke, lighting a big, "then fine."

"I'm still not wild about the idea," Barrett grumbled.

Cait Sith caught a hint of something in Barrett's tone. He knew what Barrett was thinking.

"What.... you don't trust me?" he accused.

Barrett had to admit to himself that Cait Sith, no... rather Reeve was very good at reading off people's thought. Those kind of people made him wary and suspicious. And the fact that reeve was an employee of Shinra no less, didn't help those feelings. He didn't want to leave Cid alone with someone, he admitted he didn't throughly trust.

"Not completely," barrett said truthfully," But I guess right now, it's the only way."

"Oh.. the only way huh.." Cait Sith's tone was now low.

"Stop gabbin and go!!," Cid yelled. He was frustrated by all this talk and yelling.

"Alright then!" Barrett took charge. "Let's go get Tifa and Yuffie, and parachute off this heap."

He ran for the exit as the others followed quickly behind. The scrambled past him as he turned to Cid and Cait Sith and called back.

"I want ya to stay alive old man," Barrett ordered, smiling at him.

"Yeah,, you too dad....," Cid answered, " make sure you find your kid!"

Barrett nodded and the turned to Cait Sith.

"And cat... I'm counting on ya to keep him alive," Barrett said.

"That a goodbye Barrett? Well thanks! I'll do just that, " he answered.

With that Barrett quickly turned and left the bridge of the Highwind.

  
  


Tifa had slowly made her way from the bridge and had finally entered the conference room.

"Cloud.." she tearfully mumbled.

Looking to see that no one was around to watch her, she finally broke. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. She was supposed to be strong.. able to take care of herself. She knew how to fight and she never gave in to others. She always thought of herself as hard to break. But now... here she was... crying like a newborn babe. 

But she told herself she had good reason to be. She had just lost someone who she only just now... realized that she loved. Deeply. Someone who had saved her countless times and had never left her undefended. Someone who she thought would never leave her side. And now? Was he gone? She became very scared.

"Oh Cloud," she wept, "gripping that table and starting to tremble," Why?"

She continued to cry. The table on which she had put her head down beginning to gro damp from her tears.

"Why," she thought. She pounded the table," It isn't fair. Just when I find out... find you... you leave."

She thought about how Cloud had thrown himself off the bridge. How he had divided that beam with his Ultima Blade. Of the last moments she saw of him before he plummeted to earth.

She remembered, just before she lost sight of him, how he looked back.. almost as if he had been glancing at her.

"What Cloud did... he did for us all. Especially you." Barrett's words rang through her mind.

Yeah, she thought, that's what he always did. Cloud saved me. He was like my pillar or my rock. I always thought that i was strong, but in reality it was always him. He was the one that was strong. Not me. And I needed him for that. And now... he's gone.

Thinking this made Tifa weep even more. She didn't want to think anymore. Didn't want to do anything. She just wanted to be weak. To think of him. She wanted to just cry.

That's what she did for seven good solid minutes. Then realizing that it might be better if she got some air, she stood up out of the plush leather chair, looked around the red carpeted room and wiped her eyes the best she could. She didn't want people to know how much she had been crying. She was embarrassed about it herself... but she knew.. they were her feelings. God... why didn't she realize it sooner? Why didn't she say it sooner? Damn...

She left the conference room.

Blindly, she slowly made her way for the main airship balcony. She had almost made it there when someone reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Yips!" she gasped.

Surprised, her reflexes took over and she spun around with a whirlwind punch. The figure ducked and rolled backwards, landing on it's feet, holding out a pair of arms and wearing surprised and angry look on it's face. Tifa recognized immediately who it was.

"Yuffie, what are you doing?" she felt herself hiss.

"Gawd Tifa!" Yuffie shouted, her face turning even more upset," i was just going to tell you that you shouldn't go out there!"

"Huh?" Tifa seemed not to notice Yuffie anymore. She just wore a blank stare.

"Goin outside would be suicide considering the ride has gotten a bit bumpy," Yuffie warned in a less threatening tone.

"Oh," Tifa just stopped and shrugged. Tifa just stood there.

Yuffie stared at Tifa. And then she noticed that Tifa's eyes were very red. It only took a moment for her to figure that something was wrong. The way Tifa was acting, the sadness that she tried to disguise in her voice and the way she just blindly stared as if in shock. Tifa was definitely not right.

"Uh.. Tifa, what's wrong?" Yuffie asked curiously. Why was she asking anyway? She never particularly felt close to anybody. And when she had joined Cloud's group, none of them felt really terribly close. So... why did she care?

Maybe it had to do with the group's attitude here. Maybe it was beginning to rub off on here. Or maybe.. maybe it was because of all the things they had just gone through and experienced together. Maybe.. she had found a place where she belonged. She didn't really know...but for some reason, she really didn't like seeing Tifa this way. And so... she asked Tifa again.

"What?" Tifa's voice was soft, barely registering. It was almost like Yuffie wasn't there. 

"Tifa.. why are you so sad?" she repeated.

This time Tifa heard her. But she was surprised that Yuffie of all people would be concerned about her. She had to say something.

"I... I guess I didn't hide it to well..." she trailed.

"Yahh... Tifa?" Yuffie answered, waiting for her.

"I heard you Yuffie," Tifa softly whispered and the looking directly at her. Her Hair was matted and her clothes looked disheveled., "but why are you even asking? You should already know why.. Like you... would care anyway."

Tifa knew she was being harsh, but she needed something to take her emotions out on. Even if it was poor Yuffie.

"Whoa!," Yuffie defended herself," What's with the 'tude? I'm just wondering what's got ya so down. Like I need this. Besides... I'm always out here anyway, how should I know about anything?

"Oh...," Tifa agreed going into that blank stare again, "That's right." Tifa started to think about what had happened again.... and she felt her tears welling up again.

An uncomfortable pause took place between them. Finally Tifa scrounged up the nerve to speak again.

"Yuffie..," she whispered again her voice starting to crack.

Yuffie kept looking at Tifa, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong. She really wished that she hadn't shouted at her.

"I'm sorry, " Yuffie apologized, " But.... my father always said.. before we started fighting... that when someone is upset that should try and talk about it."

"You..... you weren't there....you didn't see what happened...," Tifa tearfully mumbled. 

"Well, then what is it?" Yuffie was pressing, " If it's guy trouble, then it's best to talk to me. I'm the only other female here, besides you."

"No.. it's not that.. it's... it's because Cloud..," Tifa couldn't bear to say it. She just did not want to believe it.

"Yuffie waited as Tifa paused, eying her, saying it was ok for her to say.

"Cloud....." she repeated. No it wasn't true! It just wasn't! It... was....

"C,mon Tifa, you can tell me...," Yuffie encouraged her.

She had to. She had to say it. 

"Cloud... Cloud....," she repeated his name faster.

Yuffie smiled gesturing her to say.

"CLOUD KILLED HIMSELF!!!" she had stepped back and shouted it at that top of her lungs. She backed away, slumping to the floor and placing her clenched hands into her lap. 

"WHAT?!!!," Yuffie gasped, so shocked by what Tifa had just shouted , that she too almost tripped over her own feet. She stumbled back... trying to absorb it in.

"What... what do you mean?!!", Yuffie exclaimed.

Tifa was trying to explain it between sobs, the tears in her eyes again.

"He.. sacrificed himself......for me.... for us," she squeaked

Tifa then told Yuffie the whole story, sniffling and trying to find a way to compose herself. She told about how the beam had shot towards the Highwind. How Cloud vowed that they would not die while had a say. How he drew his Ultima Blade and struck it in half saving everyone. How he started to fall downwards... looking up... how she attempted to jump after him. 

"If it wasn't for Barrett..," she voiced., "then... i probably would have died with him."

"I just.. don't believe it." Yuffie stood there in awe. 

"You... you can't believe it?", Tifa repeated her, " I..... I can't deal with it."

She clenched her fists. Damn it... she just found out. Damn.. she shouldn't be this wrecked about it. But... she was...

"I'm... sorry Tifa." Yuffie knelt her head down.

"You know... I found out.. just before... something I realized...," Tifa tried talking

"What?" Yuffie asked.

"I found out that.... that I was.... and that he was.... I never got to tell him.... never got.." she started talking incoherently, " I was... in love... with him."

Yuffie was trying to figure out what to say. She just couldn't believe it. She had no idea how to handle this situation, or calm Tifa down.

"Now, I'll never get to tell him that... never get to see him, never get to .. hold him... never get to do... anything.... with him..," Tifa kept babbling. 

The she broke again in front of Yuffie. She couldn't help it. This was too much for her. She didn't care anymore who saw her. She earned the right to cry. Broken hearted she lay there... sobbing.

But Yuffie was an optimist. She hated sad moods. She was energetic, cheerful and always looking for life.

Moreover, she just still couldn't believe what Tifa was telling her. Cloud dead? Yeah.. right. She just couldn't picture it. A guy like him.. dying that easily. And Tifa... just acting like she was giving up. Seeing Tifa like that didn't make her sad. What it really did was make her angry. 

"So, your just giving up, right Tifa?!, she curtly told.

"What?", Tifa looked up at her through tear-soaked eyes.

"Your giving up!", Yuffie boldly stated waving her right arm up in the air.

"Wh... what do you mean?," Tifa asked her for an answer.

"Come on. Did you really see him die?"retorted Yuffie.

"H-he fell!," Tifa replied angrily, "Of course I saw him die!"

"Did you see him hit the ground?!," Yuffie continued," Gawd, were talking about a guy who can fall off reactors and live. Were talking about a guy who disappeared into the Lifestream and reappeared in a far off town. We're talking about a guy who came back, with YOUR help after nearly being brain dead!!!"

Tifa stared at Yuffie, letting her words soak into her as she continued,

"All those times he was in trouble, you never gave up on him. You were always determined to bring him back. And he did. But now.... your just giving up!!," Yuffie gave her feelings.

Tifa thought about what Yuffie had just said. Was she right? Did she just give up? Cloud did always seems to come back from things. Things, normal people would die from. He never gave up on the people he loved. Certainly not on here. All those times that he was in trouble she had always been there. She never really questioned why... she just felt like she needed to. And now?

Yuffie was right. She hadn't really seen Cloud die. They hadn't buried him yet.... there could still be a chance...So why.. why should she think that he was dead now? It was just giving up. On him. And she decided that she didn't want to do that. Not just yet.

After a few minutes... she composed herself...straightened out her face and tried to shake away her bad feelings.

"Your right Yuffie, "she finally managed to say, " You are absolutely right. I am just giving up. I can't do that. He is.. he is alive. He's alive somewhere. I'll find him. I won't ever be convinced that he's dead... not until I see proof."

She stood straight up, her fists were clenched, het eyes filled with intent, her very figure starting to tense... beaming with determination.

"I swear.. I swear.. I'll find him. No matter what happens I'll do it. Because I need to tell him. I swear I'll tell him."

Maybe she was just trying to convince herself. She had to... for somehow she had found some slim chance of hope. She had to keep it with her.. otherwise she would be giving up.

"That's the Tifa I know," Yuffie complimented. She was smiling trying to keep Tifa's spirits lifted.

"Thanks Yuffie, your right. I'm not gonna give up," she kept saying, her heart filled with hope. Her eyes were no longer filled with tears, but with desire. The desire to find the one person in the world she knew she loved.

"It's no prob, You just find him," Yuffie said.

She started to turn around, but Tifa put her hands on her shoulders. Before Yuffie knew what was happening, Tifa dragged her forward, put her arms around her and squeezed.

"T.. Tifa! What are you doing?!", Yuffie gasped for air. Yuffie was not used to being hugged. It wasn't something that she was equally fond of either. 

"Thank you Yuffie," Tifa started to talk, "If it wasn't for you.. I would have quit. I was on the verge of literally going insane.. of killing myself out of grief."

"That's not something I think Cloud would want," Yuffie stated., starting to struggle out of the bearhug.

"Yes...your right...." Tifa agreed, letting Yuffie go, "Thank you... thank you... for being my friend."

Friend?!! Tifa called her friend? No... Yuffie couldn't believe that... Yuffie was never anyone's friend. Yuffie had to shake her head to believe that. She didn't quite no how to react to it.

"Anytime I guess,' Yuffie finally said,"But.. if you ever hug me again... I'm gonna kick ur ass so bad, you won't even notice your missing materia."

Tifa stood there for a minute, not knowing exactly what to say. She felt her lips move as If to reply that she found that at least partly funny. Of course she wasn't in the mood to laugh.. but it sill helped to cheer her up.

"Now.. urk....excuse me,"Yuffie started wheezing," That little display of emotion just got my stomach moving again."

She trudged off in the direction of the chocobo stables.. perhaps to find a haystack to use.. just in case. It left Tifa alone, to her thoughts.

I'll find you Cloud, she thought. But then she felt disturbing thoughts trying to creep into her mind. What if... what if i don't find you? Or i do find you.. but your dead? Can I do it? Go through burying you? What will i do if that happens?

No. She shook her head of the dark images. No. I'll find him alive. She believed she would. Even so... she couldn't help think that it might become a very real possibility. He could be dead. She might have to deal with it. No! she thought. He's alive!

"Oh Cloud....," she whispered.,"...Don't be dead."

  
  


It wasn't that Tifa tried to get her mind off Cloud as so much as the thought were ripped away from her. Tifa found herself flat on her back , her eyes gazing at the ceiling.

"Owch," she grimaced, steadying herself as she pulled herself to her feet, "Wha-what happened?

She immediately realized that the airship had once again flailed about wildly in the air. She also caught Barrett, Red XII and Vincent running towards her.

"Tifa!" Barrett bellowed, out of breath from running.

"Are you okay Tifa?", Red asked, stooping directly in front of her.

"I'm fine...," shw sighed, her mind drifting again, "But, what's going on? The ship just lurched. And I see you guys running out here."

Yuffie had also returned from the Chocobo stable, looking interested in the conversation. But she also looked terribly nauseous. 

"Were bailin out of here, " Barrett explained, "Ain't no way this hunk o' junk is gonna stay up in the air much longer."

"Were parachuting out?" Tifa guessed.

"That's right," Vincent cut in," may I suggest we cut the conversation short and get our chutes on."

The airship lurched again in reply. Tifa managed to stay on her feet this time , but Barrett lost his balance and toppled over. Fortunately for him, he managed to land on something soft and furry.

"Damn it," Barrett grinned , " I guess your right Vincent."

"Ahem... I beg your pardon, but would you kindly get off of me Barrett?" Red growled in obvious discomfort, " Your not exactly the lightest person here."

"Oh..," Barrett said, " I thought the floor was kinda soft." he managed to get to his feet.

"Damn.. your hardly soft...my ribs...," Red complained.

Tifa snickered a little under her breath, holding her mouth to hide it, but the others caught it.

"Looks like your feeling better," Barrett commented.

"Not really," tifa explained. Her facial expression turning serious again. She looked downwards at the metal floor. "I just have something to believe in right now..."

"Let's go," Vincent rushed , grabbing parachutes and chucking them over to his companions, "We don't have a lot of time left."

The group agreed and started to put their packs on. The other maintenance people were doing the same. But tifa, being observant, noticed that there were two people missing.

"Uh.. guys?" she started to ask.

"Yes?", Red addressed her.

"Where's Cid and Cait Sith?," she wanted to know.

"Well uh... yesee...," Barrett tried started to explain. He didn't quite know how to put it.

Tifa looked at them, a quizzical look on her face. She stopped, waiting until one of them gave her an answer.

Barrett started again,"Cid... wants to try and land the ship.."

"..so he's making us leave him here..", Red finished.

"W...what?!", Tifa's air left her, "Y..You can't!" She frowned with disgust. There was no way.. she couldn't do that.

"He's making us do it Tifa," Barrett tried to explain," And you know Cid. He ain't gonna change his mind and nothin is gonna make him."

"But....but...", Tifa stammered, looking away from them," First.... first Cloud... and now Cid?"

"Don't worry, Tifa," Red tried to convince her," He won't be alone. Cait Sith is going to stay with him."

"C.. cait Sith too?!", her voice grew louder as she gave the other an angry look, "No! I won't allow it!"

She stood there with her fists balled. Damn.. Why was all this happening?

"There's nothing we can do about it," Barrett put his hands out," Cid loves this plane, you know that. And Cait Sith is just a toy robot. His real body is in Midgar. And being a Shinra employee, he should know about some of the things in this ship, seeing as how it was Shinra who helped build it. So...Cid's in good hands." Barrett was trying to convince himself more then Tifa. He really knew what she was thinking and he felt terrible about leaving them behind. But.. It seemed like the only way.

"Never thought I'd hear you compliment Cait Sith like that," Red commented to Barrett.

"Eh.. Shut up," Barrett mumbled under his breath towards Red.

"But.... still....it's...it's not fair!", Tifa would not listen to reason.

"C'mon...Tifa...", Yuffie said under heavy breath,"We gotta ... go."

Tifa looked down at Yuffie. She was on the ground, nauseated by the trembles of the airship. She stopped and thought. She knew she wouldn't win this argument. And she knew there was really nothing she could do. She felt herself starting to give in. Finally.. she spoke again.

"Alright...", she said softly, but then put in, "But as soon as we land, we're going to head for the crash site."

Barrett shook his head yes,"We were going to do that anyways."

"Let's go," Vincent ordered.

They all started moving towards the airship balcony, but suddenly stopped and looked back to see that Yuffie was still on the ground.

"C'mon Yuffie," Red nodded towards the exit, "let's go."

"Ugh," was her reply, as she looked up at them She tried to get to her feet.

"I'd... like to, but... I'm dizzy. Feel like...I'm either gonna.....hurl.....or.....black...out.." She had trouble getting her words out.

"You don't even have your chute on," Barrett pointed out.

"S,cuse ... me..", Yuffie put on her famous attitude," Mister... fall... on... Red.......(wheeze)...damn....can't ... even.....insult...you...ugh."

Red walked up to her and looked her over.

"I know that you've always had motion sickness Yuffie," he told her, shaking his head, " But I didn't know that you got it this bad."

"It's.......al....thi....these.......bumps.......d-damn," She managed to wheeze.

"Barrett," Tifa asked him, "Could you?"

Barrett nodded at Tifa and then walked over to Yuffie.

"Alright, come on," he sighed. He picked her up and cradled her in his strong humongous arms.

"W...Wha...What ..are...you...doing?", Yuffie cried, surprised and embarrassed that she was being carried," G..get off.."

"For your own good," Barrett said smugly," If you can't walk, then I'll just have to carry ya. Besides which, there's nothn you can do about it either."

"I...I'm...not.. a baby...huff..wheeze...," she protested. She couldn't even move. And she disliked this attention.

"Yes....but.. you're not well either," Tifa spoke softly," Just relax. We'll make sure that your fine."

"No....no... don't... want ....any..one' ..help," she was still complaining. They were already half way to the balcony.

"Hmmph....too bad. You're gettin it," Barrett snorted.

"Fine....," Yuffie finally gave up," B..but.. don't blame me....if I .. hurl on ya." 

"You better not," Barrett warned.

They all made it out onto the balcony. The looked down and the saw the ground starting to loom up, closer and closer to them. They were going pretty fast, so all they could really see was the greens of the earth as it zoomed along past them.

Barrett sat Yuffie down and tifa helped to get her parachute on. When they had finally finished hooking it to her, Barrett again picked her up and looked out, ready to jump.

"Jeez, your a lot lighter then Marlene. You do eat don't ya?", Barrett joked at her.

"Be... be quiet," Yuffie wheezed, and angry look on her face,"Ya.. think I like... being lugged around..... by you? Oh.. that's it... I'm gonna....hurl..."

"Alright! Alright! I won't say another word!!" Barrett begged her.

"Heh...", Yuffie smirked.

They all stood there looking out over the edge. Their muscles tensed, ready to take the big plunge off.

"Ok...I'm gonna leap," Red stated, and then turned his head at Yuffie, " do you think you can open your chute while your falling?"

"I'll... be fine," Yuffie replied. She wasn't that helpless. She could take care of herself.

Barrett pulled out the portable phone from his pocket, and dialed into it. A moment later he looked at the group.

"Cid says good luck to everyone," Barrett announced the message.

"Tell him the same," Tifa nodded softly.

Barrett did just that, and then placed the phone back into his pocket. He stretched his body and then placed his boot on the guardrail.

"Alright... let's go!" he ordered.

Without warning, he took Yuffie and tossed her over the side.

"Wha.. wha... you! You biiiiig jeeeeeeeerrrrrk," Her voice trailed off.

Barrett then hopped over the guardrail himself. "Later," he waved back as he disappeared.

Vincent was next. It seemed like he just glided over the side.

"See you around," he voiced before he disappeared in the air.

Red and Tifa were the last two people standing there. She looked out into the distance, blankly staring. Red pawed up next to her side.

"Well...were the only ones left," Red remarked to her.

"I....I'm gonna find him Red," she heard herself say, " I will."

Red looked up at her. She was still staring out towards the moving horizon. The mountains seemed so distant, but they slowly moved across, like creatures slowly making there way on a harsh journey.

Red nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Cloud.....," she said, " I'm coming...."

With that she ran and dove off the Highwind. She disappeared into the moving sky.

"Cloud..," Red wondered," You.. still believe he's alive. He stared toward the spot where Tifa had descended.

"For your sake Tifa.... I really hope so..", he whispered.

He gave the Highwind one last look, and silently said goodbye to the pilot. And then with that, Red ran to the edge of the ship. Leaping off and doing a full flip through the air. 

  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Falling

Chapter 2 Falling 

  
  


"Man oh man, That is a looooong way down," Cloud mumbled to himself.

He had only just started plummeting down to the earth, right after chopping the beam in half. The impact had knocked the Ultima Sword away from his grip and had also clouded his mind for a few seconds. The next thing he had remembered, he was staring straight up at the Highwind. He had taken one last look, trying to find Tifa's eyes, before he had turned to stare at the oncoming ground.

He diverted his attention to his predicament and started to try and think of a way to stop his fall. He knew that he had precious little time and that he needed to find a solution quick. If he didn't...

No. he didn't want to think of that. Death was never something he could deal with well. He had always vowed to himself that death would never claim him so easily or without a fight.

He spied the quickly approaching ground.

"Well...," he thought, " I've had worse problems."

His mind spun with thoughts.. wondering what would happen if he failed. He'd leave everyone alone.. he'd leave Tifa alone... he knew that he couldn't do that.

"C'mon Cloud... think!," she shouted in his mind.

His adrenalin pumped as the wind whistled by his body.

"The wind!," his mind shouted out.

The air did seem to be slowing his descent if only a small bit. But if could generate more.. Forming the idea , he reached for his blade but then realized what had happened to it. 

"My..sword!," his heart nearly pulled out of his throat, " Where?!"

He twisted frantically to find his blade, and he suddenly beheld it, flipping madly out of control a few feet away. Knowing that his sword was his only real chance, he straightened himself out into a dive and aimed for the sword.

Although it caused his descent to become much quicker, it also allowed him to get much more closer to the weapon. The earth kept moving nearer and nearer... the sword kept swinging closer.. closer...

Finally he had managed to pull himself within arm's reach of his blade. But, it was flipping so wildy about that attempting to grab the handle was risky, because there was a very real possibility his hand could be sliced clean off.

Out of nowhere a bird flew directly into Cloud's face!

"Ow!!," Cloud yelled, shaking it off," God dammit!!!"

Shaking his head , he peered down and saw that the trees were mere feet away from reaching out to pull him in. He knew that he didn't have any choice. It was do or die.

He quickly threw his arm out and took hold of the blade's hilt. Feeling the swords grip beneath his fingers, he immediately called out, "Finishing Touch!"

He had never actually used his own Limit Break on himself before. But knowing that his Finishing Touch move was based on wind, in which it would pick up his enemies and slam them unmercifully down into the floor, he figured that it could also be used to help buffer his landing, or at the very least slow his descent to a snail's pace before he started plummeting again.

It seemed like a great idea at the time. After all he had few options to him, and the Ultima Blade glowed brightly as to reflect his confidence in it.

Unfortunately, the move placed him into an even more startling predicament. Instead of slowing his descent down, the tornado like winds had actually succeeded in spinning him upwards, almost out of control.

"Damn...," he heard himself as he braced against the gusts," I'm gonna be torn apart here."

But the winds subsided then, leaving him roughly Two hundred feet higher then when he had first cast it.

"Terrific," he mumbled," So.. it's either up or down."

The upward momentum was quickly replaced by gravity once again, as he again started falling. Now, he had a way to stop his fall.. he just needed to figure out how to land on the grass in one piece.

He took the time to peer around the incoming earth, trying to think of what to do next. All he could see was the blades of gently moving grass, the brown dirt that lay in splotches around them, some greyish rocks that lay sprinkled on the plains and a few deciduous trees. There was no sign of life nearby, discounting the wildlife and a few ostrich like monsters pecking around for food. 

Seeing the ground loom up, re realized he was going to smack into it.

"Finishing Touch," He shouted again, forcing the winds to once again propel him upwards and away. 

Damn. He couldn't keep this up forever. He would run out of energy soon, and if that happened, it would be over. 

He stared again, looking at the monsters, the trees, and the flat outlines of the fields. And then he noticed a yellowish blotch in the distance. Sand? Then maybe.. he could be close to a beach. And where there were beaches, there was also..

Water! He thought, If I could fall in the ocean rather then on land it could soften the impact. But..how do I get over there?

He thought of his Limit Break again. It had succeeded in pushing him upwards...maybe it could succeed in blowing him over to the beach. He had made up his mind, there was no other possible choice.

He called forth the winds again to blow him towards the sky, so he could have enough distance to make it to the beach. He felt his magic starting to run low and knew that it was indeed a chance he needed to take.

He pivoted himself through the air, giving him just the right angle, descending again as he powered up his sword.

"Okay...," he whispered, "this is gonna work. Please.. think of me Tifa."

With that he ordered out his Finishing Touch once more and threw himself toward his destination. But, underestimating the strength of his own attack, he found himself being shot through the sky with such velocity, that even he couldn't place where he was. All he knew was that he could feel the wind ripping at him , tugging him, threatening to tear away the very fabric of his soul. And the he felt something new.

It was wet and hard and it dashed against his arms and legs leaving only leaving only pain as a reminder of it's touch. He could feel as the substance smacked against his head and he could sense a blackness that enveloped around him, trying to suffocate his very being.

"Ugh," he heard himself voice as he reached out furiously. 

The hard, wet substance grew to become softer, but it also felt like it was trying to drag him in.

"Damn it...," he could barely say," I'm sor..ry.. Ti.."

The permeating substance and encompassing blackness became too much for even Cloud. Slowly sinking, he blacked out into unconsciousness."

  
  


"Okay," Cait Sith reported to Cid, "They've all jumped off."

Cid shook his head , giving Cait Sith a notion that he had heard.

"Alright," He replied after several seconds," Now let's try to land this baby nice and softly."

"But Cid," Cait Sith commented, " That ain't gonna be no picnic. Even I can tell you that this ship is going down hard and fast."

"Shut up!," Cid howled to him," Only I say whether this ship goes down hard."

Cait Sith ignored his insults. He knew that Cid was under some very heavy pressure and needed something to take it out on. Instead, he hopped over to the instrument panels and pushed a few buttons, informing Cid about what was still operational.

"Hmm..," Cid repeated, "We got just enough juice to stay up for another half hour and then that's it?"

"That's basically what we have here," Cait Sith responded.

"At the rate were going, if we landed now, we'd be torn to shreds. I'd like it better if we could hover softly down," Cid reasoned.

"Can't," Cait Sith told, " like I told you, the hovering system is down. We can't land like that. The only way is to land it like an airplane. But we have no runway and besides which-"

"Don't want to hear any excuses," Cid cut him off, " If your going to whine about every little damn thing, then I'm gonna have to kick yer ass right off of here."

"But Cid, " Cait Sith defended, " I was only going to explain about this ship's design flaw."

Cid's face grew beat red with anger. He snapped his head around and glared at the huge stuffed moogle.

"I designed it myself!", Cid flicked his cigar in Cait Sith's direction," Your telling me this is my fault?!"

"N-no!," Cait Sith stammered, holding up his hands in defense, " I was just going to say that this ship doesn't have any landing wheels. It was just meant to hover above the ground. So even if we did have a runway and landed it that way, the bottom would still be torn up."

"Shit!", cursed Cid, pounding on the metal control panel " Don't you think I know that!?!?"

"Well," Cait Sith pressed, " I just simply wanted to know what you were gonna do. You shoulda known this plane was going to crash regardless."

"I don't know!!", Cid blared, " But still, I'm not going to give this plane up!"

Cid had lost everything he had ever built. He felt that he needed to at least save one thing he had made. The Highwind was his second greatest machine. He didn't want to lose it like he lost the rocket.

"Well..," Cait Sith broke his thoughts, " either we find out how to land this ship in the next thirty minutes, or your going to lose it anyway."

"If you don't... shut... the hell up...., I'm gonna kick your ass...," Cid warned in a low threatening tone.

"That will help..," Cait Sith shot back.

"Grrrrrrrrr.." Cid grrred. He was losing his patience.

"Look Cid,, we shouldn't be arguing," Cait Sith then said in an apologetic tone.

"I'm going to land this ship. Then I'm going to kick your ass," Cid replied, turning back to the Highwind's controls and lighting up another smoke.

"Whatever makes you feel better..," Cait Sith mumbled.

Cid ignored him and concentrated on trying to keep the plane in the air. They both stood in their places for several minutes, trying to come up with a solution.

Cait Sith knew the Cid was under enormous pressure, but he had his own problems as well. The real person that controlled Cait Sith, Reeve, was still in the city of Midgar. As the new official head of Shinra Inc. he had ordered a complete evacuation of the metropolis when the magics had been dueling over the city, and he had wanted to supervise it. But as Cait Sith, he had been to busy dealing with things on the toy's end. It was ironic to say the least. He had become Cait Sith because he saw it as a way to help people. Since, as a member of Shinra, he couldn't do that openly, he had decided to rely on the moogle to do his fighting. But now..Cait Sith was just a side arm. He didn't need it anymore. What he did need was the people of Midgar, just as he believed that they also depended on him. But he couldn't help then now, he couldn't abandon Cid.

But.. as he thought about those things, something more ironic was about to happen. As Reeve tried to control the Cait Sith robot, he realized that the signal for it was starting to break up.

" I got it!!," Cid's face lit up, snapping his fingers, " We will land it like a plane, but we'll find something soft to put it down on!"

"Uhm... Cid?", Cait Sith interrupted his thoughts, " I nee-eeed to tell you something."

"Shit," Cid grumbled again ," What are you gonna whine about now? Not a good idea?"

"It's great," Cait Sith responded back in a more positive tone, "But... your probably going to have to manage it [bzzt] without me."

"Huh? Why's that?", Cid's meaningfully asked.

"Because... I'm [bzzzt] breaking up here, " Cait Sith answered.

"Hmm.. your circuitry does seems a bit frazzled," Cid observed, " Do you think it's fixable?"

"Even if it was..[bzzzt] you wouldn't have time. I control the Cait Sith body from [bzzzzzzzzt]idgar. T..The power here seems to be running low. Since the Cait Sith body is powered by a Midgar power source, It's safe to assume that the signal will fade complete[bzzzt]ly. 

"Shit," Cid cursed, " So I guess I really will have to land this baby by myself. Thanks."

"No, I'll stay as long as I can," Cait Sith tried to reassure him.

Cait Sith didn't like to leave Cid with more problems, but he knew that his presence here was limited. And it was better for Cid to know now, before he went completely dead, without Cid having any idea what occurred.

Cid himself felt a bit guilty. He had just warned Cait Sith off the ship, but he hadn't really meant it. He knew he needed Cait Sith's help, even though he didn't show it. And Cait Sith could see that as well.

The short pause was broken again by Cait Sith. He wanted to get Cid's mind back to the task at hand.

"So [bzzzzzt] something soft?," he broke in.

"Yeah," Cid nodded back to him , " the ground is too hard, but if we found some liquid..."

"Well... That seems like a safer bet. I'm all for it." Cait Sith agreed.

But Cid added,"Problem is, I don't want to steer it into the ocean. It'll sink, and by the time we dredge the damn thing out, it'll be a rusted piece of shit." 

Cait Sith stayed silent. It was a great idea, but there were many problems to it. For one, there were no lakes close enough to crash into with the time they had. The only real places bodies of water around was the ocean and even then he didn't know if there was time.

Cid was thinking about it as well, and asked Cait Sith if he knew anywhere to go. He shook his head no, his voice starting to sound more cracked and uneven. But as soon as he told Cid this, he slapped his tin plated head, and suddenly blurted out an answer.

"I got it!!," Cait Sith yelled.

"What then?" Cid wondered.

"The swamp.p.p.p.p.p.p.p.p.p.," Cait Sith's voice started to stammer, "It miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhht be daaaaaaaangerous, [bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt] b.b.b.b.b.b.u*".

"Huh?" Cid asked scratching his head, trying to figure out what Cait Sith had just told him. "What did you say?"

Cait Sith didn't answer. He just sat there, staring blankly at Cid.

"Hey! What the hell were you saying?!" Cid loudly asked him again.

Again, Cait Sith didn't speak. He just stood there as if paralyzed. It was then that Cid realized what had just occurred. The power had cut off. Reeve, the real Cait Sith, could no longer control the body. That left Cid the task of landing the ship all by his lonesome.

"Shit!!," he pounded on the controls again," Thanks for the damn hint, but did you have to go and croak on me?"

Although Cid really hated to admit it, he knew that it would be very difficult to land the Highwind safely by himself. But, knowing that his ship as well as his own survival depended solely upon him, he became determined not to fail. He tried to recall what Cait Sith's last words were.

Something about a swamp? Of course!!! Midgar swamp!!! Perfect!!! It was the perfect place to land. The soft liquid and vegetation would help extremely to buffer the impact and it was shallow enough so the Highwind wouldn't sink. There was only one major problem with it...

Cid shook his head as he thought about it. Realizing that he only had a few minutes left, he decided taht it was really the only way. Touching some buttons, he steered it towards it's final destination.

It wasn't too long before the swamp slid into view. The ground was much closer now then before and he knew that he was losing altitude. Lighting a cigar, he puffed at it and gripped it with his teeth. This was it.

Giving all his concentration to the task before him, he tightly clenched the controls and braced himself. He was going to land it in one piece. He was not going to lose his plane. He was not going to fail. He was not going to die.

The Highwind flattened out, bringing itslelf level with the swampy waters. It closed in , slower.. slower... Finally the bottom of it slapped against the liquid ground. A great slash rose up from the front of the ship, as the Highwind slid forth in great force. The green water buffeted the airship and the liquid ground snagged it's forward momentum causing Cid to be thrown perilously from his feet. He slammed into the ground and felt the airship lunge , trying to pull through. 

"Damn...," he breathed, trying to get to his feet. He reached for the power button and flipped the switch," Your done fer today..."

The power fizzled as the Highwind slowly slipped forward, finally coming to a stop. Cid slumped back onto the cold hard metal floor, slowly falling into darkness.

  
  
  
  


"Yaaahhhhhh!!!!!!," she screamed madly, flailing about her arms wildy.

Barrett stared at her, wondering if she had gone completely nuts. They were still descending through the air and it was almost time for them to open their parachutes. He shouted at her with his tremendous voice, but she either seemed to not pay him no heed or had not even heard him at all. Straightening his form, he glided directly over to her so that he could get her attention.

"Yuffie! What in the hell are ya doing? Open your chute!"

"Huh?!," Yuffie ssked loudly looking around for the voice.

Open your chute!!!," Barrett yelled again.

She turned her body around and peered at him.

"What?!!," she shouted back.

"OPEN YOUR CHUTE!!!!," Barrett screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Well.. why didn't you say so?!!!," Yuffie managed to yell back at him.

She started to fumble her pack. To Barrett she seemed to be groping clumsily for the string. Even worse... she was grabbing at the wrong side of her pack.

"Uh... Barrett...where... where.. how do I open it?!," she shouted, as her cheeks reddened a little.

Barrett sighed , and then told her to pull the string on the other side of her pack.

"Oh..," was all she could say.

She did pull it and her parachute flew out from her backpack. The wind caught it and the sudden pull jolted her and she started to shriek again in panic. Barrett did the same, but without becoming surprised by the sudden lift. Yuffie stopped screaming as got used to the slow descent. Barrett floated up beside her and then smiled, his teeth protruding form his giant mouth.

"W...what?," Yuffie caught his grin, a bit of an embarrassed look on her face.

"Nothin...," he chuckled.

"C'mon," she insisted," Why are u smiling at me?"

"Well...", Barrett started to admit.

Yuffie gave him a puzzled but extremely intense look. It made Barrett give in.

"I never heard you scream like that before," Barrett told her simply.

"Give me a break!!!!!!," she yelled at him, her face quickly changing to anger, "I'm thrown of the side of an airship, sick to the point of passing out.. flinging about wildy to save myself from falling!".

"Yeah?" Barrett probed.

"Well," Yuffie continued in her angry tone, " you would be frightened too if you were in that situation!"

"So... you were scared? You, Yuffie?" Barrett asked.

"Yeah, what about it?!!," she demanded.

Barrett started to again chuckle to himself. But his chuckling made Yuffie even more pissed off.

"Why are you laughing at me?", she yelled kicking her left foot towards him.

"I'm not...," Barrett smiled.

"Sure sounds like it to me!", Yuffie stated.

"I'm just shocked.. or maybe impressed. That's all," Barrett told her truthfully.

"Why?"

"Because... you'd never have admitted that before. The great Yuffie... showing us your feelings for once. How'd that happen?", Barrett placed his hand onto his chin and looked at her, shrugging.

"Since when did you become my psychologist? It's none of your damned business anyway," she glared, then turned her face away from him.

Barrett just smiled and decided to drop it.

Yuffie slumped into her parachute. Maybe she did trust them more with her feelings, but she didn't like talking about such things. Lately she had felt closer to the group, but she didn't know exactly how the felt about her. She never trusted much. She knew it was better that way. Experience taught her that. It was better to distance herself from people. Not make friends. Living alone was more preferable to going back to people who never cared.

So, when they had helped her on that airship, it had really come as a big surprise. She never knew that they actually felt that close to her until right at that moment. And maybe Tifa had something to do with that. Still... becoming this close to them.. she didn't know whether she as happy about it.. or just plain scared. 

It was then that she felt the sickness return. Her stomach had once again resumed to launch itself against her insides and her eyes were becoming blurred . Her head felt dizzy and she knew that she might succumb to darkness soon.

"Hey, Yuffie," Barrett had noticed. ," You okay?"

"Huh?" she stared at him again.

Barrett was there. Maybe he could help. She was sick and although she didn't really want to admit it, she needed help. But she'd have to trust him... did she really want to take that risk?

"Barrett," she heard herself talk in a soft voice.

"Yeah?," he responded to her.

"I.....I'm sick again.", she mumbled.

"Yeah.. thought so," he face scrunched.

"Uhhh.. I think.. I'm gonna.... pass out...," she told him.

"How about doin it after we land?", Barrett ordered, " Brace yourself!".

She peered out and saw that the ground had loomed up in front of her. Sticking out her feet, she placed them onto the dirt and then ungracefully flipped onto her stomach.

Barrett wasn't so lucky.

"This is gonna hurt," he gritted his teeth as he was slammed into a tree. 

  
  



	3. Searching

Chapter 3 Searching 

  
  


Tifa and Red didn't land very far from Barrett and Yuffie, so It didn't take them long to find one another.

"At least we're all in one piece," Red spoke.

"More or less," Barrett swallowed, rubbing his scalp from where he had slammed against the tree.

Taking a moment to look around, he noticed however that one was missing.

"Where's Vincent?" he observed.

"Huh?", Tifa was taken right from her thoughts.

"Vincent is gone," Barrett repeated.

"Oh," Tifa nodded silently, looking as though she had barely heard him.

"I think Vincent can take care of himself," Red commented.

Red didn't like the fact that Vincent in all likelihood had decided to take off on his own, but he wanted to steer the group away from any more concerns. They had enough as it was.

"Guess your right," Barrett mused.

Red again viewed the scenery. The party seemed to be taking a rest, so he decided to get his bearings. After pawing the ground and sniffing the air for several minutes he started to get a keen idea where they had landed. He estimated that they were probably close to the mountains, between Midgar and the town of Kalm. 

"What are ya doin?" Barrett had watched him.

"Trying to figure out where we are," Red explained to him.

"Oh," Barrett shrugged.

He sat down on a rock. The past hours had been pretty intense for them all. It had all gone so fast, and it seemed like they could barely catch hold of their breaths before something else had happened. First the fight with Sephiroth. Then the battle of the magic between Holy and Meteor. And then jumping off the Highwind. It had taken a pretty exhausting toll on them. Both physically and mentally.

Tifa just stood motionless. She stared intently out towards the horizon. A chill blew up beside her and she held her left arm tightly. She badly wanted to start searching for Cloud, but she knew that she had other responsibilities first. They group, especially now, needed to stick together, at least until when they found if everyone else was safe. Things needed to be organized... situations needed to be corrected and problems needed to be solved. She knew this... but it still took all her willpower to keep her feet from moving. 

"Smell that air," Red snapped her out of her thoughts again.

"What's so special about it?", Barrett gave Red a questioning look.

"I can't believe you don't notice it Barrett," Red scowled at him.

Barrett just stared at him blankly, giving Red the feeling that Barrett was absolutely clueless to what he was referring to.

"The air is cleaner," Red explained, sniffing it again," There's not a hint of pollution in it. No Mako smell. Nothing but cleanliness."

"Now that you mention it, It does seem fresher," Tifa added, placing her left hand flat up against the air.

"Not only that," Red replied back, " But look at the grass. The trees. Even the Rocks and the dirt look new and fresh."

He was right. The grass was greener. The trees were mor colorful. Even the water in the pond next to them seemed clearer. The others peered around at the site and despite their emotions towards everything that had happened, they felt a little happier. It was like experiencing a renewal of sorts. The whole planet must have gone through some sort of catharsis.

"It DOES feel good," Barrett sat back and breathed.

"It's wonderful!", red exclaimed. 

With that he hopped up onto his hind legs and flipped into the air. He rolled with the landing and laying onto his back began to squirm about like a fish out of water. Tifa and Barrett gaped at him, bot wearing astonished looks on their faces. They had never seen Red frolic in the grass before. It just didn't seem like the sort of thing he'd do.

"Ah well," Barrett waved, recovering from the surprise, " maybe he got just got a bigger dose of whatever's going on."

Tifa still wide-eyed and staring at Red, just shook her head in agreement.

It was at that time that Yuffie decided to wake up. Barrett had found her, passed out from where she had landed. He had taken her parachute off and carried her over the shore pf the pond. He had left her there and had waited for everyone else to show up.

"Ugh..", were her first words.

Barrett noticed that she had awakened. Standing up from his rock he strode over and knelt down beside her. She looked up at him, startled.

"What-where am I?", she sat up, shaking.

"Hold it," Barrett said, slowly placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"B-Barrett?", she asked in surprise.

"You okay?", he asked

Yuffie then remembered what happened. Her muscles relaxed as she lay down again.

"Feeling better?". Tifa had also walked over and knelt down next to her, smiling," You had us worried a bit."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Yuffie shrugged off Barrett's hand.

She was embarrassed over how they were treating her. Although she had come to trust them more then she realized, she still disliked all the attention. She thought of herself as independent, never relying on anyone's help. She had survived on her own for this long because of her wits, and her talent for stealing. She didn't like people being this close.

The others knew when to back off and leave her alone, so they stood up and walked back to the still frolicking Red XIII. 

"Yo, Red, are you done?!," Barrett shouted over to him.

"Hardly," Red answered. He was too busy enjoying himself.

"Well, we need to figure out or next move," Barrett said.

"He means get over here so we can talk," Tifa put in.

Red peered at them both, sighed in disappointment and the pawed back into reasonable talking distance. Barrett sat on his rock and Tifa stood directly beside him, crossing her arms.

"So?" Red asked, sitting on his haunches.

"Midgar was heavily wrecked by them magics," Barrett began the meeting," First we need to go there, help them people out and hopefully get some information."

"There's also the matter of Cid," Red addressed, " We don't know where or how he landed. He could be hurt."

"That's why I say we should go to Midgar," Barrett said.

"Huh?" Barrett had caught red's attention.

"Don't forget," Barrett explained, "that Cait Sith was controlled by Reeve. Since the portable phone went dead we can't raise him on it, meaning we have to find him. He's prolly holed up somewhere in Midgar."

"And, if we find him.. he could tell us where Cid landed," Red finished.

"Right," Barrett answered.

"Still...." Red trailed off.

The others peered at him. He clearly had something on his mind. They waited until he decided to continue.

"I don't see why some of us couldn't try to locate him right away. I means suppose he's injured.... we could be wasting time trekking to Midgar to find one man in that vast city," Red worded his complaint.

"Yes, but with most of us disappeared and Vincent missing, I don't think we should split up even more," Barrett gave his reasons.

"I... just don't see it as a good idea for ALL of us to go to Midgar," Red turned his head away from the big man.

"Well, I do!!," Barrett's voice grew into a loud growl.

Yuffie sat up after hearing the shouts from both Barrett and Red. She had always found it amusing to watch two people argue about things that had little or nothing to do with her. She admitted it was wrong, she just found it entertaining.

Tifa however had a decidedly different reaction. She wanted to get going, to do SOMEthing, not to sit around here and argue. What was wrong with them? More then ever, she wanted to find Cloud.

If he were here, she thought, we wouldn't be arguing. He'd take charge because he always knew what to do. Even more, HE was the one that had fallen out of the airship. Cid had a whole plane to help buffer his landing, but Cloud... she knew she felt guilty for thinking it, but why weren't they arguing about how to find Cloud? Even more... why couldn't they shut up so they could start moving.

The pent-up frustration, her anguish, her pain and her uncontrollable desire to find the man she loved were all pushing her to the breaking point. She had just about reached it when Barrett pulled up his heavy metallic gun arm, pointed it towards the air and proclaimed they were doing things his way. She was at that point when Red growled at him and refused.

Listening to their angry words and thinking about Cloud, tears started to well up into her eyes. She tried to hold it in, but she couldn't anymore. And all her friends seemed to be accomplishing was making her feel worse.

Barrett started again, "WERE doing things MY way and that's final!!".

"Your just a fool Barrett," Red scowled.

"Well you're the biggest-"

"SHUT UP!! SHUT THE HELL UP!! ALL OF YOU!!!!," Barrett was cut off by such a threatening noise that even he was struck speechless.

They all looked over to see that it had come from Tifa. She stood there, the largest scowl they had ever seen from her. Her eyes glowed brightly and intensely , and from them poured tears of sorrow and bitterness. They had already rolled down her beat red cheeks and had just made it to her bared mouth. Teeth clenched, fists closed, muscles tensed, she made everyone freeze. No one dared say anything or make a move.

"Your all morons!!!," she bawled, " We could be halfway to Midgar by now if you idiots would just shut the hell up! Well, I've had enough of it!!! I'm sick of it!! All!!".

"Tifa..." Barrett chanced.

"NO!!", she cried, stamping her foot, her tears flowing so fast that even she had to stop and wipe her face in order o speak.

"You don't care..," she lowered her voice," None of you.. well I don't care either. If you all want to sit there and argue, fine..... DO IT WITHOUT ME!!!!".

With that she turned, her brunette hair whipping through the breeze and began to run as fast as her strong legs could go. Red had started to run after her, but Barrett held his hand out in front of him. Red peered up at Barrett and then stopped. He wanted to help, but he realized just as Barrett knew that she needed some time alone. 

"Oh man...," Barrett whispered in a low tone, " i can't believe what an idiot I am."

"I'm just as at fault as you are," Red guilt fully added.

Yuffie stood up and shot them both a look.

"Nice going. Men.", she sighed, " Couldn't you have been just a little bit more sensitive towards her?"

The all bowed their heads shamefully.

  
  


Cid awakened to find himself among a pile of debris. It took him mere seconds to notice that he was still on the bridge of the Highwind. The second thing he noticed, when he started to crawl to his feet was that his body ached and hurt.

Cursing, he limped up and checked the control panel. The airship's power was dead and the instruments were darkened by the missing glow of the panel's lights. The whole ship was dark and the only light that appeared emanated from the airship's window, reflected directly from the slowly moving moon.

"Damn," he cursed again.

He dug into his pocket, grabbed a cig, placed it to his lips and lit it up with his customized lighter. Smoking was a bad habit, but it always helped him to think and calmed his nerves a bit.

First thing was first.. he had to get an idea on where he landed. He walked over to the window, feeling his pains dulling away, and peered out into the night sky. The greenish liquid reflected the moon's rays quite beautifully and he could tell that the Highwind had partially embedded itself into the soft earth. It also helped him to notice a rather large shape moving about under the surface.

"Great,", he thought," That must be one of those snakes Cloud talked about."

He spun back to face the insides of the bridge. The dark shadows barely allowed him to make out the room but from what he saw it was practically a mess. Steel girders had ripped from the ceiling and were protruding haphazardly downwards. The instrument panels were for the most part broken and dented. Solid sheets of steal were resting in many spots on the metal floor. He felt lucky to not have been hit by any of them when they had fallen.

He stared at the ceiling again. It certainly looked too dangerous to remain anywhere near it. The metal was hanging precariously in place and he concluded that any sort of movement might be enough to dislodge the beams and bring the whole steel ceiling on top of him. He knew he couldn't stay there safely.

Cursing again, he opened a cabinet beneath the pilot's wheel and pulled out his Venus Gospel, a lance type weapon; a map and a compass. The best chance he had was to travel out of the swamp, but he was well aware that if he went outside he'd have to contend with that Zolom. The hull creaked, giving him the sense that he had little time to consider his actions. He knew it was the only way.

As he make his way to the exit, a large white shape caught his eye as it reflected off some faint rays of light. The object laying there was mangled and broken. It's left arm had been severed clean off and it's head had been dented by debris.

Cid stopped and nodded silently at the form. He only hoped the person who had controlled this machine was in better shape then it was. He flicked the ashes from his cig toward it in appreciation. And then he continued on, exiting from the bridge and leaving the old battered form of Cait Sith behind.

  
  
  
  


"Look, Barrett.. I apologize," Red started to explain, " I guess.....The real reason why I don't wish to go to Midgar are personal. Too many memories of Hojo there. But.... that's no excuse for me to act that way and disregard my responsibilities."

Barrett understood, and then nodded, "I'm sorry myself. I guess I'm doing the same thing. I just tried to use excuses just so we could go to Midgar. I... have to find my daughter. I want to see Marlene."

Red was the one who shook his head in understanding this time. He felt for Barrett. He knew that everyone was trying they're best to cope with the recent events. And it was hard on all of them.

"But... the real person we owe an apology to is Tifa," Barrett said in a more dominate tone," I... don't really know if she can handle this situation. I want to try and make her feel better."

"There's really only one person that can do that...," Red answered, " Cloud."

"Tifa told me.. she was in love with Cloud", Yuffie chimed in.

"Hell, even I know that," Barrett started to brag, putting his hand proudly on his chest " I've been married before. I know when I see it."

"But....," Barrett continued in a lower tone, " It makes it that much harder to cope with when you lose it...".

"So...," Red puffed, " Why are we standing here? Let's find her."

Barrett agreed and they all went to look for their missing friend.

  
  
  
  


They don't understand, Tifa thought, None of them do. Well... maybe Yuffie....but she didn't do anything .She had sat on a small rock, just on top of a low sloped hill.

Why were they being this way? The thoughts swam through her mind. If Cloud....if Cloud were here.. we wouldn't be sitting here. He'd show them. He's know what to do.

"Oh Cloud," she sobbed, " Please... please be alive. I.... I need .. still need... ," she sniffed," to be held by you. I need you to take me... into those big strong arms.... need you to tell me... how things are going to be alright."

She covered her eyes with the palms of her hands and wept into them, letting them smoothly flow as she continued.

"I need you.... to protect me... like you always do. I want you.... to take that big strong sword... tell those idiots exactly what to do. I need you to... be with me again... like we did the night before we fought Sephiroth. I want you... to tell me... to say...." she trailed off.

She sat there, shaking.. trembling as the thoughts poured into her mind. She finally knew what love was. She thought now, that she could finally understand it. But even more... she wanted somebody to return it. 

Sitting there on that hill, her hands placed softly on her eyes, her mind was only of him. The moonlight that emanated from the orb above her made her tears glisten. They were all over her hands now, dripping slowly off her arm. It was a sight that would have made anyone's heart sink.

It was then that Barrett, Red and Yuffie happened upon her. They froze dead in their tracks when they caught sight of her. It was then that they knew she was deeply broken. 

Barrett had thought he had a keen idea about her and Cloud, but upon seeing her like this, he couldn't help but feel hurt. He had seen as she struggled to keep control on the airship and she had hid it well when she had been around them. 

It was the kind of person Tifa was.. kind and outgoing, always willing to help others with their problems. But for all that, she never let anyone know if something had been bothering her. She put always put on a strong face for everyone. The only person she ever really opened up to was Cloud.

"C'mon," Barrett waved to the others.

They had all taken a step closer towards Tifa when Red suddenly hopped backwards, slid his ears back and lowered himself into a guarded position. Barrett paused and turned and gave the wold a cautious glance.

"What?", Barrett whispered.

Just as fast as he had raised his guard, Red bolted straight towards the still sobbing Tifa. Barrett was shocked. He threw his hand out and stood gazing at the charging animal.

"Wha- what in the hell are you doin?!," he shouted.

"TIFA!," Red growled a warning, closing in on her.

Tifa looked up and was shocked to see Red charging towards her. She jumped up in surprise.

"W-w-what do you want now?!," she shouted, choking on her own tears and forming a defensive pose.

Red reached a comfortable distance, and then much to everyone's astonishment leaped for her.

"RED!!," Barrett yelled as he ran from behind.

"GET DOWN!!", Red dove into her knocking her from her perch.

They both landed into the soft grass as Red whirled around, stood over top of her and growled at the shadows. Tifa lay on her back besides Red, trying to take in what had just occurred. She spied several bullet holes lodged into the very stone she had been sitting.

Barrett and Yuffie had also managed to catch up and now they too were staring at the shadows. Barrett pointed his gun arm directly at the place Red was staring and Yuffie took out her Rising Sun.

"C'mon out," Barrett warned.

It took several moments, but the party soon found just who had assaulted Tifa. Several soldiers in blue uniforms appeared from their hiding places, aiming their rifles at the party.

"Shinra...", Barrett confirmed in a threateningly low tone.

"Sir, we've encountered some suspicious persons," a man spoke into his comm unit. He listened and nodded as the voice replied back through it. He raised his gun towards the group.

"By authority of Shinra Inc. , your all under arrest," he informed them.

"Like hell we are," Barrett yelled back at the man, " You know as well as I do, they're ain't no more Shinra. Now, you either put that gun down, or I'll put it down for ya."

"What did you say?", another soldier asked menacingly.

Tifa had started to crawl back onto her feet when another man whipped around and clicked his gun towards her.

"Don't move!!!," he ordered her.

"Hell... I don't need this," Barrett growled, " Alright guys.. let's do it!"

Unfaltering, with precision, the group sprang into action. Yuffie tossed her Rising Sun, knocking one guard's rifle from his hand and finishing him off with a roundhouse kick to the head. Barrett fired two rounds of ammunition into a group of three, sending them flying towards the ground. Red howled and jumped unerringly into two more guards, knocking them into unconsciousness. Tifa placed her hands onto the ground and back flipped upwards, landing onto her feet. A split second later she thrust her left elbow in a charging guards stomach, causing him to stumble backwards. He gripped his stomach.

"You all picked the wrong time to mess with me," Tifa bared her teeth.

She then sent kick to the man straight into his chin, giving him a trip to dreamland. Finally, she thought, a chance to take out her frustrations. 

She charged another group of men, who tried everything in their power to gun her down. But Tifa, was too quick and with a sweep kick to one, a dolphin blow to the next, and a Beat Rush to the third, they all found themselves kissing the ground.

She had just finished off another two and looked around for more, but found that the others had just finished up the rest. In one way disappointed that there was no one else to beat up and in another way relieved that the fight was over, she let out a rush of air and stumbled slowly back toward her comrades.

"Feel better?" Barrett asked when she had stopped in front of them.

"Not really..," she admitted softly.

The silence was deafening as the party caught their breaths. Tifa felt pretty terrible at what she had said to them. She was glad they had decided to find her.

"Look... I'm sorry..," Tifa was the one who spoke first. She was looking at the group, " i shouldn't have... yelled at you.. like that." 

"Got nothin to be sorry about,: Barrett answered, " We were the ones acting like fools. You had a right."

"We weren't thinking..," Red apologized also from his sitting position, "We should have considered how your feelings."

Tifa silently stared at them. She didn't know what to say to them.

"We owe you an apology," Red told her again.

"So........were still friends?" Tifa started to look away to the ground, holding onto her arm.

"Hell, you oughta know that Tifa," Barrett mock punched the air.

He stepped closer to her and placed his hand onto her shoulder.

"Just remember," he told her as she looked into his broad face," that we're all behind you. Always."

"You still believe he's alive, right?", Yuffie asked her.

She nodded her head yes.

"Then we'll do whatever it takes to find him," Red responded.

"But... but....", Tifa stumbled again, her tears forming one again," It still hurts."

As she started to cry again Barrett took her into his arms and held her close. She gripped back as he did so, looking for anything to clutch onto. She sobbed, letting her tears flow openly.

"I know...," Barrett whispered patting her head and thinking about his own wife and missing child,"... I know." 


	4. Alone

Chapter 4 Alone   
  
  
  


"Ugh," was all he could hear. Pain was all he could feel. Darkness was all he could feel. These were the very first things he became aware of.

It wasn't until he blinked that he could see the darkness start to fade. Blinking his eyes again, his vision started to focus. Instead of blackness, he made out a light blue color and then realized that it was the sky. 

Alive. The pain he felt was more of an indication of it. He felt like had been beaten up several times by Ruby weapon, the legendary monster who lurked underneath the sands of the Gold Saucer. But, despite the pains, he reached up with his hands and felt for his hair.

"Looks like I'm gonna need more hair gel..," he mumbled.

He did his best to sit up and take in his surroundings. He found himself on a beach. The sands were amazingly soft, not gritty or grainy... and the ocean was as clear as Costa Del Sol's waters. He could see as the sunlight illuminated underneath the clear water.

As his vision trailed up along the coastline, his eyes fell upon a bluish glowing weapon. The Ultima Blade. Sighing, the man named Cloud painfully managed to place his feet underneath him and stand. He walked.. each step a sharp reminder of his fall. He slowly made his way, until finally... the sword lay directly at his feet. Kneeling he took hold of th sword's handle, and ignoring the pain, sheathed it onto his back. Grateful for not having lost his best weapon, he once again surveyed his surroundings. Not knowing exactly where he was, and feeling groggy yet again, he decided to make the most out of the soft comfortable sand.

Laying back, he felt the cool ocean breeze brush against him and found the rhythmic crashing of the waves peaceful. He noticed however, that it was the only sounds he could hear. He slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.

  
  


Cid headed straight towards the airship's Chocobo Stable. He didn't particularly like the smelly, messy birds, but he knew for the most part that the Chocobo on board would be extremely useful in getting out of his predicament. 

Forcing the door open, he was immediately confronted by Karrot. The bird was owned by Tifa and it had been raised and bred by her. Cloud and everyone else had virtually no interest in breeding chocobos, for they were mor preoccupied with Sephiroth and Shinra, but it had been Tifa that had talked them into it.

"They're cute," she pleaded with Cloud," C'mon..pleeeasse?!"

Cloud really had no other choice but to say 'yes' to that face. She had looked like a kid begging for a toy. 

"Okay, but your responsible for it," Cloud had finally surrendered.

It was a good thing to, because they had actually turned out to be very useful. They found that they were able to reach places that the airship couldn't remotely get close to, and that made for finding some very rare and useful things. They were also good when the group was in a hurry and had no time to mess with annoying monsters. 

"C'mon," Cid reached out and grabbed the reigns around the bird's beak. The chocobo immediately followed," I can't believe we almost forgot about you."

"Wark," warked the Chocobo.

The golden bird was very well trained and it knew exactly what Cid wanted. Karrot was a Sea Chocobo, a very rare breed indeed. Because of it's golden color , Tifa had named it Karrot. The ostrich like bird's intelligence was very high and it's speed was magnificent, much to the dismay of the other Chocobo racers at Gold Saucer. 

Cid made his way to the airship balcony and then opened the door. A foul, damp stench immediately greeted. 

"Damn," he cursed, holding his fingers to his nose," This is one smelly swamp."

The smell wasn't the only thing that was dangerous. The damp humid air was pungent and thick and it made Cid's skin feel sticky and hot. It was also filled with nasty little bugs, who wasted no time in trying to eat Cid alive.

"There's nothin good about this swamp," he moaned to his companion.

"Wark," the chocobo agreed.

Cid continued to walk out, peering over the railing. He surmised that the swamp water was a few feet away from flooding up onto the balcony and saw that it was a safe distance to jump off. He did just that and commanded the bird to follow.

"Yuck," Cid groaned as his feet sank into the damp soil. The mud quickly rose over his boots. 

He quickly got his bearings and looked around as the chocobo stood next to him again. The bird also looked a bit displeased about the muddy grounds. It lowered it's head as if looking for something edible.

"Alright," Cid again mumbled.

He pulled out the map and looked at it for a few minutes. Karrot was standing there looking at him with a questioned look. Scratching his stubbled face and looking at the horizons, he felt like he now had a good estimate to where he was located. He also figured out what was to him could be the fastest way out of the swamp. 

"The safest place that's closest is the Midgar caves," Cid grumbled," and it says here that it should be that way." He pointed in the general direction.

The bird squawked again and yanked towards the area Cid had pointed.

"Just a minute," Cid yelled.

He placed his map back into his pocket and then drew his lance. He knew that Karrot's speed could outrun any Zolom, but he also knew that there was a snake slithering about somewhere in the general area near ths airship. For all he knew , the crash could have attracted them. He didn't know exactly where it was hiding, but he knew enough common sense that it could be close enough to attack, even with the Chocobo.

He grabbed the reigns again and then pushed himself up onto the saddle. He steadied the bird and then stood perfectly silent. For two solid minutes he waited, spear in his right hand, reigns in the other.

Waiting.... watching....listening.. The only sound that could be heard was the buzzing of the swamp bugs and the soothing sound of the water lapping against the deep greenery. 

"HIYA," Cid bellowed, digging his heels into the golden bird.

"SQUAWK!!!," the chocobo angrily complained, but it automatically broke into a frenzied run. 

The chocobo was already going as much as thirty miles an hour and was quickly gaining speed. Cid leaned toward the chocobo's neck as they started to streamline through the mud. 

As they gained more and more speed Cid thought he heard a noise. It sounded like.. Deep. Monstrous. Hissing. He peered back over his shoulder towards his beloved Highwind to see if he could pinpoint the origin of the sound. It took him a split second to find out that it was coming from the humongous snake breaking itself free of it's resting place beneath the shallow waters. It was a greyish green with a hooded head. It was easily as big as a two story house. It reared up and quickly turned it's head to look at the fleeing pair. 

"Shit!," he cursed. The Zolom was dead on the chocobo's heels in a matter of seconds. 

"Go, go go!," Cid slapped the back of Karrot's neck. 

He looked over behind him again to see that the snake was lunging out with it's mouth wide open. 

SNAP. Cid had been just mere inches away from becoming the serpent's lunch. Having missed it's target the snake howled again and continued it's chase.

"You stupid snake!" Cid yelled shaking his fist," you almost bit my nose off."

The snake hissed back in reply. Amazingly Karrot was running over 80 mph and the Zolom was still keeping up.

"Here's a present," Cid smiled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of dynamite. He placed to up to his cigar to light it and then threw it towards the Zolom.

He somehow managed to hit the thing with it, but it recovered in record time and resumed it's hunt. 

"Damn," Cid thought," this is the snake from hell."

The chocobo continued to sprint with the huge Zolom directly on their backs. Slowly the Midgar caves were coming into view. It was a welcome site but he had to also keep his eyes on the hungry Zolom.

"Hsssss," the snake was not about to lose his breakfast It again lunged at the pair, but the chocobo's quickness was too much for it as Cid easily dodged.

"You can't catch us you big lizard," Cid openly mocked it.

But the Zolom was right back on the chocobo's tail. It continued to dive for them in the hopes of catching them off guard , but Karrot continued to evade it's attacks all the while drawing closer and closer to the caves.

They were almost there when the snake unexpectedly dove into the waters with a great crashing noise. The whole length of it disappeared into the ground, leaving no indication of it's presence except hor the huge hold it had created.

"What the hell?," Cid pondered. He was surprised. Had it just given up?

He continued to listen for the snake, but all he could make out was the soft patter of Karrot's feet as it wove across the damp pungent swamp.

"Ha," Cid laughed slapping his knees," the damn snake gave up."

He took the cigar from his mouth and threw it towards the huge hole it had made. "Good riddance."

He then looked towards the quickly approaching Midgar caves. He felt the wind whistle by his face and ruffle through his short blond hair as they neared their goal. He still felt his adrenaline pumping. 

They were only a few feet away from the caves when suddenly the chocobo squawked and stopped short. Cid glared at it with an angry look. He was about to embed his heels again into the bird when it took a step back away from the cave. Cid realized then that the bird had been startled by something.

"Come on... get moving," Cid yelled.

But it was exactly at that point that Cid felt what the chocobo had sensed. The ground underneath them... was starting to shake.

"What the hell?" Cid cursed in befuddlement

The shaking continued to grow and Karrot started to panic. Cid tried to calm the bird, but it would have none of it. Cid wondered what could be causing the ground to move. And then... he realized..

"Oh shit!!!," he shouted," we need to get the livin hell outta her!!" He dug his heels into the chocobo. A second too late.

Cid literally felt the ground lift upwards as he was thrown off from the chocobo's saddle. Both he and Karrot were tossed into the air at such speed that when they looked down the ground seemed to draw further and further away. But he also saw a huge snake jumping up from the ground towards him. The Midgar Zolom was back!

"Godammit," Cid yelled as he recovered from the sudden lift. Using hi momentum he flipped through the air and readied his lance, pointing it downwards toward the snake as he started to descend.

"Take this bitch," Cid growled, generating energy into his lance and slamming it directly into the roof of the snake's mouth.

The snake howled in pain as Cid pulled his spear out and leaped onto the ground, ready for battle.

"Tritoch!" he summoned. Immediately symbolic balls appeared around Cid's body and then formed into a humongous boar as large as the snake. He had summoned Triroch.

After the spell had finished pounding the daylights out of the Zolom with it's Bolts, Fires, Ices, and Quakes, it was became the snake's turn.

It shot out it's tail and smacked Cid, knocking him onto the ground. Then it reared up as if ready to swallow him whole. But Cid was too fast as he got right back up to his feet and dodged the bite. He then ran up and stuck his spear into the snake's underbelly.

The snake howled again as Cid stepped back and performed a Hyper Jump, shooting his lance up into the Zolom's face again.

The snake groaned in it's pain and started to slump to the ground. But as it did so, it breathed in a great deal of air.

"Shit," Cid loved that word," It's death move!" 

He braced himself and waited for the impact, for the attack was too large to avoid. It shot out a tremendous column of flame toward Cid. It expanded and exploded directly on top of the man. To him it felt as though he was inside a 145 degree oven. 

After the attack the Zolom slouched to the ground, hissing out it's final sounds. Cid grimaced as he looked himself over at his burned clothes and slightly reddened skin. 

"I think it's time I quit smokin."

  
  


He had regained consciousness much faster then before. As Cloud's head cleared, he sat up and looked over the ocean. He watched as the waves lapped up against the shore and started to gaze out into the horizon. There wasn't anything to view except the empty waters that traveled out over into the distant horizon. But at least the scenery was peaceful.

He reached back over his shoulder and clutched his weapon, let out a breath of relief and painfully rose to his feet. As he stood there on the beach, his head started to swim again. He placed his hands onto his forehead and tried to shake it clear. He had enough of being unconscious, he was not going to do again. He had more important tings to do then lay there passed out. But he found that his grogginess was quickly fading soon after and found it was easier for him to walk. 

He decided that it was best for him to explore his surroundings, so he pivoted and walked from the beach, inland. 

"I sure hope the others are alright," he thought to himself.

As the ocean wind drifted up across the back of his neck and over his shoulders, seemingly to follow him from the beach, his mind drifted back to the last couple of days. He thought about the death of Hojo and how he had revealed himself to be the father of Sephiroth. How everyone looked shocked to hear that.. especially Vincent. And then he thought about Sephiroth himself.

That white haired devil dressed in black had almost destroyed the world. By all right he had almost succeeded. The ironic part was the Sephiroth thought that we saving the world. He and Jenova had brought chaos and fear to everybody that had lived on the earth, all for his insane goal of "becoming one with the planet."

How many people had died because of his insanity. Tseng.. the leader of the Turks. Tifa's father. All the people of Nibelheim. Cloud's Mother. Zack. Aeris. They had all been killed by him.. and all for nothing.

Cloud closed his eyes. At least they had stopped him. All the hardships they had gone through, the burdens that had ben placed on them and all the near deaths they had escaped from. It didn't matter now. Sephiroth's threat, Cloud smiled, was finally over.

He thought of how he looked at Sephiroth, both of his eyes glaring at him How Sephiroth glared back. Sephiroth's smug smile. How both of their swords were drawn, bot ready for each one to move. He remembered breaking into a charge, and slamming Sephiroth with his Omnislash. He remembered , Sephiroth reeling before his onslaught, defeated. But most of all he remembered how good it had felt to finally beat him. All of his anguish, all of his pain had been released and transferred unto the one person he hated the most.

As Cloud thought about these things, he came upon a small thicket. As he entered, he noticed that the scenery had changed almost immediately. Trees were clumped tightly together and disallowed part of the sunlight from entering. Everything around him was green , from the small bushes and hedges to the grass that carpeted the ground. The salty smell of the sea now had the stifling aroma of green leafy plants. The it had grown rather damp and moist.

He started walking again and felt a nagging emptiness in his stomach. Placing a hand on his midsection he knew that it was best if he found something he could eat. He couldn't work or do anything on an empty stomach.

Come to think of, when had he last eaten? He thought about it and then came up with an answer. It had been the morning of the day that had faced Sephiroth. It had been when he had awakened with Tifa by his side. They had spent the whole evening there together, waiting for everyone else to return. He had given each of them a chance to return to the person or places that they felt was the most important to them.

"Don't feel like you have to fight Sephiroth because it's your duty," he has spoken,"Find what's most important to you and then decide if it's best to fight for it. You decide for yourselves if you want to face Sephiroth."

They had all left then, the only ones on the Highwind had been him and Tifa. He certainly had no place to go. At least that's what he thought. But her?

"Don't you have a place you want to go to?" he had asked her.

She replied to him that she had no one else or no where else to return to. She was just like him And so.. that night they both stayed on the Hillside and talked. It had been the first time the two had really communicated. He felt that he had come to finally understand all the sides of her that night. He remembered everything.. her words of comfort... her intimacy... her smile.

"Tifa....," he heard himself whisper. 

Could it be, he thought, that you had lied when you said you had no important people in your life? That you had nobody to go to? And then.. quite suddenly.. he wanted to wish that she had.

As he approached a small clearing in the woods he spotted a wild boar rooting through the ground with it's snout, looking for roots to chew on. It automatically took off running as soon at it saw Cloud, but he was too fast.

After he had caught his meal, he returned to the clearing, and placing his catch on the ground. He unsheathed his blade, launched high into the air and chopped of a tree branch with a mighty swing. He sliced the wood up, gathered them into a pile and then cats a Fire spell onto the bark. He cooked his meal and ate it, then used an Ice spell to douse the flames. He leaned against a tree and titled his head up looking at cloudy sky.

"Tifa..," he said as his thoughts drifted back to her again, " Tifa... I guess that.... I lied to you too."

  
  


"Karrot!," Cid shouted with his lungs," KARROT!!"

Cid shook his head as he gazed at the dead snake and then the swamp's horizon. 

"Dammit," he muttered," that stupid bird ran off."

Cid turned towards the cave and began to trudge along the muck toward the cave opening. 

"Great," he was mumbling," First Cloud.. then the Highwind..now Tifa's bird."

He thought about how he was going to break this news to Tifa. He wondered what reaction she would have upon hearing her chocobo was gone and feared that maybe telling her would not be good for his health.

He swore under his breath and continued on towards the cave. When he reached the entrance, he sat down on a large boulder just outside, placed a cigar to his lips and ignited it. Puffing out the smoke he decided to rest for a couple minutes.

"Guess I'll head to Condor Fort," he thought to himself out loud. There was no way he was trudging back through that swamp without a chocobo. One snake was plenty enough today. 

After finishing his cigar, he stood up to his feet and trotted into the darkness of the cave.

It was dark, empty and hollow. The light from the outside was the only source of illumination inside, but it made the craggy walls and smoothly slabbed floor glow with a spectacular greenish color. The glow was soft, enough to make out the insides of the cave, but not enough to see very far ahead. The cave was also damp as the air from the swamp seemed to linger in with the light. It wasn't as pungent as it had been outside, but at least the stinky smell had become absent from the air.

Cid kept walking through the cave. He noticed there wasn't anything of much interest inside and was only filled with the warm glow of the rocks and the sounds of rhythmic dripping of water in some far off room. 

As Cid was walking a lizard like monster suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked Cid, but he was too quick and disposed of it with little difficulty. 

"Damn monsters," he cursed.

He continued on, stepping deeper and deeper into that darker parts of the cave. Monsters would occasionally attack him, but it was no effort to defeat them. But as he walked into another chamber he saw something different shimmering along the walls. It wasn't a greenish color.. more of a sparkle of anything. The faint rays of light were bouncing off something other then just plain rock. It piqued his curiosity and he sauntered over to look at the substance. Placing a hand on the rocks, he broke a piece off and examined it.

"What the?" he couldn't believe his eyes, "It's.. it's Mythril."

He immediately dropped the piece of medal and dug into his pocket. Fumbling for his lighter her pulled it out, lit the flame and held it out above his head. The faint light brightened the area even more and Cid himself could not believe what he saw. 

The whole cave was full of Mythril. The once stripped cave had once again been replenished by the dwindling resource. He couldn't believe it. What could have caused it?

Then he thought about the Lifestream, and the magics that had ultimately lead him this very spot. Could it be.. that maybe the Lifestream had somehow replenished the earth and the natural resources that had been used up had been returned. Could places like Corel also have ben replenished with coal. Ready to be harvested again?

He stopped there and nodded his head. And then continuing on, he started thinking about the possible effect of this. It would mean that people could stop depending on Mako and return to other less harmful ways of using energy. They wouldn't need Mako anymore. 

He also thought of the possible areas of business he could go enter, that is if he could get the damn Highwind up and running again. Maybe he could build up enough cash to build another rocket and go up into space again. 

His thoughts had kept him busy and before he knew it he saw an opening in front of him. Light was protruding from it, as if beckoning him to come outside. The swamp air was gone.. so he knew he had reached the other side.

"Finally," he thought.

Pit. Pat. Crack.

Cid heard a noise and went into a defensive pose, one had grasped firmly at his sheathed spear. He knew that someone, or something was sneaking around. He stood still, tense and waited silently for another sound. None came.

"Alright," he called out," I know you're there. Either come out or I'll find you. You're choice."

"Grrrrr....", he heard a low rumbling voice reply.

Then a shadow sprung from a hiding place behind a huge rock. 

"Aha," Cid smiled, reading his spear toward the shadow. It was then that he got a great look at his opponent.

Positioned between him and the exit, kneeled a wolf. It's posture was cat like, it had a lion like tail, and it's facial features was like that of a canine. The creature's features were strangely familiar. It kinda reminded Cid of Red a little. But the main differences were that this creature was smaller, had no mane like Red and it's fur was pure white. The creatures manner did not represent it's vision.

"Grrrrrr...," It kept growling.

Cid remained in his defensive pose, waiting for it to make a move. But then it started to back away towards the cave opening.

"Scared?" Cid took a step.

"Stay away!!!," the wolf suddenly howled ain a high pitched but still growling voice. Cid jumped as it shouted.

Then it turned and ran for the exit."Leave me alone," it warned as it ran into the open fields.

Cid ran towards the cave opening and stopped there to watch as the wolf sprinted through the open plains and up over the horizon, before it disappeared from sight.

Cid stared in disbelief. "It talked?" 


	5. Dark Warrior

-Chapter 5- 

-Dark Warrior-

  
  


"Uurrgh," Vincent mumbled as he awoke. 

The darkness faded and he found himself standing. His hands were chained over his head to a damp craggy wall.

"What in god's name?", he gasped as he took in his situation. He tugged on the chains, but they gave no sign of release. 

"Oh! He's awake!," cried a voice. It had originated from a man in a dark blue uniform.

"Good," replied another man dressed in the same clothing," I'll inform the boss."

The man turned and exited from a door that was totally opposite from the wall Vincent was chained to. The other guard stood by the entrance and closed the door. Vincent pulled on the chains again.

"You shouldn't struggle," the first soldier commented.

Vincent took the man's advice and used the opportunity to take in his surroundings. It was a fairly small room, there were no windows or such. The walls were made out of brownish red stone as was the floor. It was also dark. The only source of light emanated from the torches that perched on each side of the wall. There was also light making its way from the doorway and Vincent observed from the small window in the metallic door that it led to some big metal hallway. There, the lights seemed bo be artificial.

Then Vincent noticed that his gun and equipment laying next to the soldier's foot. They must not have had time to take his equipment away, so he guessed that he had just been brought here. And he was not too pleased with his host's show of hospitality.

"Where am I?" Vincent asked the man sharply.

"Ask the boss," he replied.

Vincent angrily looked at him and then decided to speak again.

"Are you Shinra?"

"I said ask the boss," the soldier replied again in a bit more irritated tone.

Vincent waited again, but he could feel his patience slipping.

"What is this all about? Release me!," Vincent growled.

"Look, when the boss gets here, you can ask him. But for right now, just stuff it!" the guard shouted angrily.

"Relax soldier," sung out a low smooth voice as the door to the room opened once again,"the boss is here."

A slender muscular figure stepped from the shadows. He had a slender silhouette and a big darkened sword could be seen hanging from his back. He wore grey baggy pants, a silver belt and a grey shirt. His right shoulder blade was covered by a round metallic piece of armor. 

"Cloud?" Vincent stared trying to take in the man.

" I'm amused that you think so," The low smooth voice replied.

The figure stepped closer to Vincent and revealed more of his features. He was a tall fellow with shoulder length hair. But unlike Cloud's blond hair it was a dark brown. He was wearing the same exact armor as Cloud.

Vincent gazed at him from the corner of his eye and allowed the man to step right up to him. The stranger grinned at him and proceeded to look Vincent over. At last he spoke again.

"So.. your Vincent,"he sighed.

"What of it?", Vincent glared.

"Well, you are one of Cloud's friends are you not?" he declared, his smooth voice trailing through the musty air.

"I know him," Vincent answered.

" Of course you do," the boss continued, " Cloud has become well known throughout the world as of late. I hear he is one of the best when it comes to his skill with a sword."

He tapped his own weapon on the hilt," I'd like to meet him one day."

"You don't want to fight Cloud," Vincent stated.

"Why not?" the man gave Vincent a small frown.

"Simple," Vincent gave, " You'd lose."

"You would say that..", the man turned his expression to a grin.

"Now let me ask you a question," Vincent spoke and after a brief pause in which the man looked ready to listen, he started again," Who are you and why have you brought me here?"

"Ah.. excuse me," the stranger took a step back and placed his arm across his waist, slightly bowing apologetically. He then stood straight up and peered at the chained Vincent again.

"I go by the name of Clyde," he introduced himself.

There was another brief pause as the man turned sideways to gaze at the empty wall that ran between the entrance and Vincent's side. 

"As for why you're here, well that's for us to know," he smoothly continued, taking his hand and brushing a strand of hair that had fallen across his left eye.

Vincent scowled at him through the red shawl that was draped over the bottom half of his face. That wasn't a suitable answer.

"I believe you are mistaken," Vincent corrected.

"What's that?", Clyde asked, again bringing his eyes directly to Vincent.

" It is for me to know as well, especially since I am being held here against my will," he explained in a low tone and tugging at his chains as an example.

"Can't you just be grateful that your alive?",Clyde shrugged." Without us, you'd be dead."

Vincent noticed that Clyde was definitely a very smooth talker. He had to be careful in his conversation with him. He was already puzzled by his manner and he was also intrigued by what Clyde meant.

"What?", Vincent was wearing a puzzled look.

"I mean laying there, unconscious, your parachute flapping in the breeze. You could have either been dragged to death or eaten by a monster. Yup. It's a good thing we came along," Clyde was proudly shrugging again.

Vincent stayed silent.

"Now, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like, but I don't want to hear any complaints about the living arrangements," he smiled and the placed his face in front of Vincent within breathing distance," That would be just plain rude."

At that very moment another man entered the room and called for the boss. Clyde moved his back towards Vincent and looked at the newcomer. The soldier gave his news.

"There's a vehicle approaching from the north. We believe that it may be Ms. Rebecca sir."

"Becky?", Clyde's voice suddenly grew softer as the air rushed from his lungs.

"Yes sir. It matches one of our vehicles sir," The man informed.

Clyde nodded and then turned his attention again to Vincent.

"You must excuse me," Clyde mockingly apologized," I have other matters that i must attend to. But we shall continue this conversation later."

He smiled, and the quickly spun around to leave. But he stopped at the door and glanced over his shoulder.

"In the meantime, make yourself comfortable,"he laughed as he exited.

"Amusing fellow," Vincent mumbled half to himself.

"The boss ain't bad once you get to know him," the guard explained, " if you cooperate, you'll find that he's a very generous individual."

"And if i don't?" Vincent side-glanced the guard.

"..heh...I wouldn't recommend it," the soldier smirked.

There was long pause as Vincent eyed his weapon that they still had neglected to remove. It was laying by the soldier, to far for him to get to it. But he smiled underneath his shawl. It was still very careless.

"Are you guys part of Shinra?" Vincent questioned the man.

"Shinra! Ha! Now that's a good one! Ha ha ha!," the guard started laughing.

"Judging by you reaction, I'd gamble that you are not," Vincent guessed.

The man composed himself then answered, "Yeah...we're not Shinra."

"Then who?" Vincent pressed.

The man thought about it for a minute, then realized it was best to keep his mouth shut. 

"Nah.. I'll let the boss tell ya. He might get mad if I say anything," the man answered.

"Well.. I'm not really going anywhere..", Vincent tried to coax out the info.

"Guess your right", The guard nodded again.

"So?"

"Heh.. ask the boss," the guard smiled, proud that he was in such a dominating position.

Vincent just sighed and looked at his gun again. The man was still grinning. He peered through the darkness, paying attention to every little detail. He stared at the torches that lit up the room, and then at the one lone guard who had grown silent by the door. He eyed his gun again. If he could only get to it. 

Then he pulled on his chains again. They were strong, and unyielding. They seemed to be embedded deeply into the wall, so breaking the rock around it would not have helped. The links were too strong for a man of his strength to break free. But he wondered... and then he smiled. 

"Can I ask you something else?" Vincent again talked.

"You can ask all you want, but I ain't gonna answer," The guard smirked again.

Vincent ignored him and asked his question anyway.

"How strong are these chains?" Vincent smiled.

"What?", the guard's tone and expression immediately changed.

"I mean.. can't they really hold me? I wonder," Vincent thought aloud, tugging at his bonds.

"Don't try to pull anything," the guard gripped his handgun.

"But... your boss even said to make myself comfortable. These chains just don't make me feel that way," Vincent kept talking.

The guard was more focused on Vincent then ever as he spoke," T-to bad."

Vincent caught the soldier's fear in his voice. He knew it was getting to him.

"Why do you sound frightened?" Vincent asked.

"I'm NOT frightened. Not by you!," the guard yelled back.

"Oh?" Vincent raised an eyebrow.

"Just shut up," the man's tone turned to anger and annoyance. Vincent was really getting on his nerves. He wished his shift here would be over soon.

"I will," Vincent agreed," but I want to ask you one more question." 

The man stood in front of Vincent, gun pointed at him. Vincent observed that he was shaking slightly and that drops of sweat were starting to form around his forehead. 

"Now.. suppose I wasn't the one held in these chains. What if it were someone.. stronger.." he whispered out loud.

"But it's you!," the guard answered.

"Yes. But just suppose-," Vincent was cut off.

"Shut up!!!", the guard raised his hand and struck Vincent across his face. Vincent smirked at the man. He had done exactly what he had wanted.

"Thank you...," Vincent laughed.

The blow had triggered something inside Vincent. The man in red glared back at the guard and knowingly smiled. Then Vincent's muscles started to grow and his face began to change. The man was so surprised that he tripped over his own feet and landed on his back. He stared in shock at the huge monster hat had appeared mere seconds ago where Vincent had stood. It was big, grey and very muscular. The chains that had bound Vincent, simply melted away from the creatures awesome strength. And then as quickly as it had appeared, it grew smaller and vanished. Vincent stood there in the creatures place minus chains.

Before the guard could react, Vincent sent the man the gift of sleep with a foot to the chin. He ran over to the other side of the room and quickly picked up his gun. He loaded a clip into it and quickly headed for the door. 

"What's this commotion?" Two men had appeared at the doorway. They first saw Vincent and then the unconscious guard.

"Oh no...," one of the soldiers backed away, placing his hand on his forehead in disgust.

"Don't just stand there," the other one shouted loudly," Get him!!"

The both rushed at Vincent.

  
  


Clyde was standing in a huge metallic Hanger. It housed many small vehicles and one huge tank. It also had a few transport vehicles parked inside of it. The room had a huge entrance from which blackened asphalt and smooth rock of the outside met the thin metallic sheets of the interior. The door was large enough for their vehicles to pass through. Outside the exit a huge road could be seen weaving away in different directions. It was clear the base was in the mountains, for huge stoney edifices blocked most of the road from view. 

Another entrance was also visible from the farthest wall. A small ramp slowly inclined up towards that exit. This was apparently a runway of sorts for air vehicles to fly into. As such.. the hanger was very huge. A good portion of the base must have been taken up from this single room alone.

Clyde was standing in the corner of the complex, waiting with two of his men. Behind him and to the right stood a communication center. It was walled with a huge window so that the occupants could view the entire hanger. Behind him and to the left was a single human sized door that led deeper into the complex. Clyde had just emerged from it after talking with his guest, a bemused and somewhat anticipated look on his face. 

Could it really be Becky? After all this time?

A soldier that had been in the communication's center bolted from the room, and rushed down a set of stairs, greeting the boss with a salute. He was also wearing a blue uniform just like the rest of the men. 

"So.. it's her?" Clyde breathed.

"Hopefully," The soldier replied.

"What do you mean?", Clyde turned his head and stared intently at his man," Is it her or not?"

"We believe so," the soldier stated," The vehicle matches the description of one of her vehicles."

Another soldier appeared from the communications center. He shouted over to the group that the vehicle was coming into visual range. He was dead on correct because sure enough, a deep grey transport spun around a mountainous curb and zoomed into view. It sped quickly up into the hanger area and entered the base. Clyde and his men started walking over to the still moving vehicle. It slowed down as it neared the group.

Before it had even stopped , the side door of the truck slid open and a female with blonde hair leaned from the opening.

"Clyde!!", she screamed.

"Becky!!", Clyde's face turned into a jubilant grin.

The lady jumped out of the slightly still moving vehicle and Clyde caught her as she landed quickly pulling her into an embrace.

"Becky... your safe.. I was so worried..", he whispered into her ear.

"But.. I'm fine. I'm okay", she whispered right back, clutching onto his neck.

The other men in the room shouted and cheered, clapping with joy and respect. They had always admired Clyde and Rebecca.. but for the longest time they had been separated. Now she was back.. and that made the whole base seem happy.

Clyde pushed her away and took a good hard look at her. She was wearing her patented white leather outfit. A white halter top covered her medium sized chest and it came complete with a white miniskirt and white knee length heeled boots. Her hands sported two elbow length white gloves and to top it off she wore a small white cape as an accessory. She admitted it to herself that she didn't really NEED the cape.. it just made her stand out. And she liked standing out. Her blond hair was draped over her the back of her neck and it moved slightly as it caught th breeze. She was thin and sexy and most of the men had to admit to themselves that it was hard not to stare at Rebecca and think that Clyde was one lucky sonnuva bitch. 

Rebecca smiled up at her man," So... what have you been up to? How have you been?"

"Ahh.. nothing much going on here. But what about you?!", Clyde pointed at her,"You were in freakin Midgar."

"Ahh man!," she stepped back and slapped at her thigh," Damn. Those magics meant bus-i-ness. Does that Sephiroth know how to throw spells or what?!"

"Yeah... and?", Clyde listened intently.

"Yes. And those damned idiot Shinra. They actually closed the damn roads. Said they wanted to prevent mass panic!," she laughed.

She was trying to compose herself when Clyde took his hand and placed it on her back, leading her towards the door of the complex and the interior of the base.

"Yeah right!," she continued," If there's this BIG rock hovering above you, threatening to destroy the planet and the city your in happens to be it's exact point of impact, wouldn't YOU want to get the hell outta there?!"

"Well..", Clyde agreed.

"But.. we escaped", she interrupted with her story," and then we stopped nearby to watch the show. It's really all we could do."

"So.. did you enjoy it?," Clyde smiled, placing his arm around his shoulder as they walked through the hallways.

"Yes. It was pretty. You should have been there. You would have liked it. And.. besides..," she lowered her voice, stroking his cheek with her hand,"we could have celebrated."

His face reddened a bit from her suggestion, but she was already starting to talk about something else.

"Oh!," she laughed again," Can you believe some fools in an airplane tried to get close to that meteor? Hah! It looked as if they were knocked from the sky!"

"Hmm..," Clyde thought about it," That might have been Cloud's ship."

"Really?!," Becky gasped, and then smiled at him," Good. They deserved it."

Clyde had to nod at that.

"Oh," He spoke, after the pause,"I guess I should tell you. We have one of them prisoner."

"You do?", Rebecca looked surprised.

But before Clyde answered they had turned and entered a room. Rebecca's eyes widened as she entered. It was exactly how she left it. It was a greatly sized living quarter, decorated with the lastest furnishings. The walls were adorned with shelves of books as well as sword like weapons. On the floor was a dark red rug and in the middle of the room sat a large plush couch. Other doors led elsewhere to the quarters and a rather large window opened out on the opposite side of the entrance to display a breathtaking view of the mountains.

Clyde strode over to the brown plush couch and sat down, resting his feet on the conveniently placed coffee table. He threw his sword onto another table beside him and grabbed a remote to flip on the large screen T.V. leaning against the wall in front of him. All that greeted him was static and a screen full of white noise. 

"Huh," he shrugged, turning the power off," No surprise there."

Becky had walked over and stared directly at him.

"What?" he wondered why she was giving him an angry look.

She kicked his feet off the coffee table and sat next to him one couch.

"Your manners certainly haven't improved," she observed.

"Au Contraire," he shot back, taking her into his arms again and leaning her onto her back on the couch," My manners have all but increased."

"Oh!", she blushed, startled, but then slowly forming her lips into a smile,"..Clyde."

He leaned down and placed his lips onto her, kissing her long and hard. It was good.. after all this time.. she was back.. and in his arms. She breathed into the kiss. She felt exactly the same way.

"Well," she voiced, trying to find her breath," I guess I was wrong."

After another long and hard kiss, she decided that she wanted to ask him something.

"So...," she smiled, puzzled to know," who is it?"

"What? Who?", Clyde was taken aback. He had no idea what she was asking.

"The person you caught," she specified.

"Oh. It was Vincent," He told.

"W-What?!", she tensed a little, putting her hands onto the couch in order to sit up.

"You okay? What is it?", he became concerned.

"It's.. nothing..", she put her right hand up and shook her head, smiling for Clyde again.

"Yeah. I gave him my infamous 'don't complain about the living arrangements' speech", He grinned smugly.

"Oh.. why do you always do that?", she playfully punched him in the chest.

He chuckled low and soft for her. It had been a long time since he had ever really laughed liked that. His days had been full of work and loneliness.. and even though he gave 100% to his job, he knew nothing could fill the emptiness he sometimes felt except Becky.

She waited until Clyde had finished chuckling to himself when she started asking Clyde if Vincent knew anything about them. Clyde shook his head no and she sighed with what looked to be relief. To Clyde.. she seemed a bit.. troubled.

"What's the matter my dear? Now is the time to celebrate," se proclaimed, sitting up off the couch and rising to his feet.

"A feast! To honor you return!," he pointed his finger to the ceiling.

She smiled and began to follow him toward the exit when a blaring noise shot through the air.

"ALERT! ALERT!," an alarm loudly sounded over the base airways.

"What in?!!," Clyde's face morphed into a serious look as he reached over and grabbed his weapon from the table. Rebecca eyes widened as she gazed at Clyde.

He sprinted through the door, Rebecca hot on his heels and stooped the first soldier that ran by.

"What in the hell is going on?!," he shouted, a bit angry that his evening was being interrupted.

"I'm on my way to find out myself sir," the guard replied truthfully. Then another announcement rang out.

"THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED! REPEAT! THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED!"

"Oh.. no. No.", Rebecca whispered, clasping her hands together. 

Clyde peered back at her nervous form and they yelled orders to the soldier,"Secure the exits! I want every entrance blocked!!"

The soldier obeyed and ran off. Meanwhile Clyde was already on his way to his main command center, Rebecca quickly following. He shouted orders to every soldier who passed by and checking to make sure his orders were clear. He finally made it through the maze of hallways and entered into the Command center.

It was a medium sized room, where many of the complex's internal areas were viewed by the many security cameras that outlined the base. Television screens of different widths outlined the one section of wall. A small set of stairs led to a lower area of the room and tables were lined along the walls from which his top ranked officers would sit. It was basically the nerve center of the complex.

"Status!," he yelled as he entered through the side door.

His men jumped from their seats and saluted him Then they filled him in about how Vincent had reportedly broken out of his cell and was now lurking somewhere on the base. They also confirmed to him that he had yet to leave the building. 

"Find him. We can't let him escape," Clyde angrily ordered. 

The soldiers did what they were told. Damn. He was pissed. How could someone chained to a wall break out of prison. He swore, whomever was incompetent enough to let him escape would not have a job before the day ended. 

"Secure the exits!. Nobody under any circumstance is to leave or enter here," he commanded.

"O-of course sir!", the men nodded. 

"Well," Rebecca commented, walking up beside Clyde," this is certainly an exciting day. The action never seems to stop!"

"I suppose we'll have to postpone your banquet," Clyde side glanced her, with a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"On the contrary," she winked back," We can have our own little party tonight."

Clyde's face reddened, but he quickly returned to his duties. He ordered the trackers, a specialized unit designed to hunt down unauthorized peoples in the base to be deployed.

Rebecca was also now giving orders to the men, for she was also a very experienced leader as well. She had commanded when they were in Midgar, so it was nothing new to her. In fact, she rather liked her position of authority. 

Clyde watched as she mouthed off at people and watched as the men quickly attended to their duties. He started to stare at her outfit and he became lost in his thoughts. His mind winded back to when she had left for Midgar to spy on Shinra and the days that he had missed her when she had gone. He was glad she was back. Her mere presence had always made him smile even in the most dire of circumstances. 

Rebecca turned her head and caught his stare. She smiled at him.

"What?", she sounded off quizzically.

"Nothing," he replied.

But she turned and made her way over in front of him. She put her arms around his waist and held on to him.

"Were going to get him, aren't we?",she whispered.

"Yeah. We have to," he answered, taking in her embrace," Or else.. we'll have hell to pay."

  
  


The space was cramped and the air was dirty, but for Vincent, he air shafts were the safest place to occupy. He had made his way down the halls after his escape , observing each of the iron passages as he went. But he had realized that the hallways were filled with guards and had hastily jumped into the air ducts as soon as he had heard the alarm. He was very aware that he had no chance of escape if he had to fight every person that resided in the structure and he thought that battling itself would cause quite more of a commotion then he wanted. He didn't even know where he was.. for all he could guess, he may be in some underground complex in Midgar. Either way.. it was better to use stealth in this situation.

His first priority was finding an exit. He crawled through the passageways, trying to stay as silent as he could. As he did so, he happened upon to soldiers below the vent grating. He stopped to listen in for any off chance that one of them might mention any important information, but after several minutes, Vincent found that none of them had anything particularly interesting to say. He was about to move along when of the men mentioned Clyde. Vincent stayed to listen.

"So.. did you hear about Clyde?", the man casually talked.

"Nope," the other informed.

"He's quite excited about Ms. Rebecca returning," he spoke.

"Yeah..", the other one grinned," I'll bet. She's one hot number."

"He was going to have a feast and all. But since the prisoner escaped he changed his mind", the first man said.

"Dammit!," the other one snapped his fingers," We never ever are given chances to enjoy ourselves like that. And then when we do- THIS happens!"

"Rebecca...", Vincent mumbled, stroking his face,' Where have I?"

"Yeah I know. By the way, I hear Clyde wants to face Cloud one on one. Can you believe it?", the first guy continued.

"Is he nuts?!"

"I guess...", the man continued," He's just jealous cuz Cloud is better with a sword. Heh. Maybe that's why we captured Vincent."

"Well.. at least these guards have a bit of sense," Vincent thought.

And then eyeing the men an idea popped into his head. He carefully shuffled above the opening that was hung directly above the guard's positions. Carefully leaning down to peer out through the grating, and using his uniquely developed senses, he found that there were no other guards in the hallway. And then with precision, he made his move. 

The first soldier was completely knocked out by the ventilation grate that had fallen on top of his head. The other one turned in shock to look at his fallen partner and then saw the red cloaked man drop to the ground directly in front of him. With lightning fast reflexes, Vincent karate-chopped the guard in the neck, sending him gagging onto the floor. He passed out from the pain. Vincent placed both guards onto his shoulders and leapt back up into the ventilation shaft. A few minutes later he re-emerged, but this time he was dressed in a soldier uniform. He placed the helmet on to conceal his face. Now.. to find the exit.

With his new disguise, he found that he had a lot more freedom to maneuver. He still had to be careful, but for the most part it almost seemed as if he had a free tour of the place. He didn't try to talk to many of the passing soldiers, and those that he did were either untalkative or unhelpful. He decided it was just best to remain as inconspicious as possible. 

The complex was decently sized. He found that many of the paths that had taken usually led to dead ends or busily occupied rooms. Many a time he found himself coming to the same intersections. He knew it wouldn't be long before somebody would start missing those guards and by then the jig would probably be up. He didn't have all day.

As he turned into the next door he stumbled upon what looked to be a library. Already his mind started working, and thought perhaps it might be in his best interests to delay his search for the exit for a minute to see if he could gleam any sort of info from the place.

It was a large room, with many books and disks stacked and labeled on five different rows of shelves. A check-in desk stood near the entrance and an empty computer terminal sat powered on top of it. He thought it was a bit too good to be true. Even so.. he couldn't let this chance slip.

Observing the area to make sure no one was around to see him , he zipped over to the computer and accessed the files.

"Hmm..", he thought as he typed," Let's see if we can get some information on a Clyde....". 

With this he typed in the name and just as fast as he hit then enter key a record popped up on the screen, with Clyde's picture on it. Satisfied, Vincent picked up the nearest disk, shoved it into the computer and copied the file. He then keyed in Rebecca's name. Another file also appeared and he again copied the file.

He then started to search for information on the base itself when A voice made him jump clear out of his seat.

"What are you doing there soldier?!", a rather annoyed middle aged man questioned. He had greying hair and was wearing a white coat and small round spectacles. He had seemly emerged from the shelves of books and disks.

"Oh...,"Vincent was quickly thinking up a story ," I'm, uh... I'm, doing some research for the commander."

"Well, you should know that you are unauthorized to use that computer," the man answered, striding over to the desk.

"Oh. Yes. I'm sorry," Vincent apologized," I wasn't aware. I'm very new here."

"I don't care," the guy fumed," Don't do it again."

"Yes," Vincent nodded apologetically.

Vincent walked out from around the desk and headed for the exit. As he opened the door, he gazed back at the librarian and then spoke.

"Uh.. excuse me".

"Yes.. what?!", the middle aged man growled.

"My.. friend asked if I could meet him at the base entrance. But er.. since I'm still new, I can't remember where it is."

"Rookie," The man mumbled. He grudgingly gave Vincent the directions.

"Thank you," Vincent smiled under his helmet.

"Yeah...," the man replied," Just be careful. We still have that prisoner loose somewhere."

"Oh.. I can handle him," Vincent smirked and then walked out the door, pocketing the disk he had taken.

As Vincent left, the man walked back to the computer and stared at the screen to see what exactly the soldier had been looking at. As he punched clear, he wondered why Clyde would ask somebody to do research on himself and Rebecca.

  
  


Clyde was not happy. He was standing in the hanger area and was loudly shouting orders the men that had been stationed there. He had taken it upon himself to guard the only main entrance to the base.

"Damn," he muttered.

To him, this was supposed to be a fun night. He was finally back together with Rebecca, but that damned Vincent had to ruin it.

"No one is to pass in or out without my consent," he warned.

"Yes sir," the soldiers saluted. They knew that is was best not to disagree with their commander.

At that very moment, Vincent attired in his stolen uniform entered the hanger area and took in the new scenery. He saw that all kinda of vehicles and machinery were stored there as well as the humongous runway that emerged from a huge opening at the side of the base ,stopping just short at the edge of a cliff. He also noticed the other exit located to the right of him. He concluded that the ground vehicles used that for exiting the base. He also saw Clyde standing in front of it.

Clyde was already aware of the newcomer, but he paid him little heed. That was until he started moving towards the runway.

"My best bet is out through there," Vincent thought.

Trying to look as inconspicious as possible he began moving towards the rampway.

"You there!", rang a low familiar voice. 

Vincent knew right away that it was Clyde. He was walking right over to Vincent. It only took a moment for him to cross the hanger and stand directly in front him.

"Yes sir?", Vincent played his part as soldier.

"What are you doing?", Clyde asked.

"Excuse me sir?", Vincent politely said.

"What are you doing as of this moment?", he asked again.

"Patrol sir," the fake soldier lied.

"Patrol? Funny.. I don't remember ordering any one man patrols here," Clyde voiced.

Vincent stayed silent.

"We have enough people here as it is anyway," he continued.

"Yes. I'm sorry sir," Vincent saluted. 

"Huh? Your sorry? Why is that?", Clyde questioned with a suspicious look.

"I'm still so very new here," Vincent gave his reason, trying to shake Clyde off," I don't know much about the base yet. I apologize."

"Strange..," Clyde gave a confusing tone, resting his chin onto his forefinger," We haven't received any fresh recruits in about a month or so. You should have had plenty of time to adjust."

Vincent tensed. This was not going well.

"And wait! This uniform!," Clyde gestured towards Vincent with his hands. Several other guards were beginning to approach. 

"This uniform is not to be worn by rookie officers. Where did you get it?!," Clyde was full of questions.

"My friend let me borrow it," Vincent was trying to save his disguise,"My real uniform is being cleaned."

"Why didn't you clean it when you were off duty? Who is your friend? Tell me his name!", Clyde shot back.

More guards were entering the hanger area. Vincent tensed more. The jig was about to be up.

"You don't know do you?! Because your not really one of my soldiers. Right, Vincent?!," Clyde accused.

Vincent was amazed. How did Clyde know?!

"Word of advice. Make sure that when you wear a disguise, that you hide everything," Clyde laughed smugly, pointing to Vincent's long black hair that had succeeded in protruding from his helmet.

Vincent chose that exact instant to strike Clyde directly across the jaw with his left fist. Clyde rolled with the punch, but it allowed Vincent to streak past him.

"Uurgh! Capture him!", ordered Clyde, rubbing his chin. 

The guards ran after Vincent, drawing their weapons and firing a hail of bullets at him. Vincent tore away his helmet, ripped off half of the uniform from his chest and gripped at his own weaponry. He fired back at the his pursuers as he ran up the rampway. His shots hit with deadly precision, taking out man after man, but the soldiers kept up their relentless chase, with Clyde in the midst.

"Click," said Vincent's gun. He had run out of bullets. 

"You can't escape Vincent," laughed Clyde," Just give up now. And MAYBE you won't have to die."

Vincent sneered off Clyde's threats underneath his mask and finally reached the end of the rampway. The sheer drop off the cliff the only path he could take.

"No way out," Clyde slowed his pace.

"Your really a fool to underestimate me," Vincent glared back at his foe.

And then, Vincent's body began to change. His muscles bulged as his form began to distort. His hands grew to claws. Horns rose from his forehead and wings emerged from his back. The slender body of Vincent had suddenly become the hulking form of Chaos. He quickly let out an attack the tossed the mass of guards aside. With the only person withstanding the onslaught being Clyde.

Chaos flapped his wings and flew off towards the clouds. Clyde balanced himself and eyed his fleeing prisoner.

"Oh..no..," he muttered," Your not escaping,"

Aiming the palm of his left hand towards Vincent, energy started to gather into it. It only took ten seconds at the most before Clyde finished preparing. With a mighty roar he sent the energy hurling into the gliding Chaos.

Catching Vincent off guard, the beam slammed Vincent directly up into the air, and then he fell like a stone onto the rocky cliffs of the mountains. 

  
  
  
  



	6. Wandering

  
  


-Chapter6-

-Wandering-

  
  


As Tifa, Barrett, Red XII and Yuffie reached the cliff overlooking the city Of Midgar, they could scarcely believe their eyes. It was Midgar... or what was left of it.

The upper plate had been torn to shreds. Large gaping holes could be viewed on the plates, allowing daylight to enter the slums for the first time since the city had been built. They could see that buildings had either been totally demolished, toppled over, broken into halves and all on the point of collapsing. The top half of Reactor Six was missing. Plate 4 had been dislodged and had fallen onto the bottom half of the slums there. Midgar was a disaster area. Only the Shinra Building, which loomed into the distance, seemed to evade most of the damage, but even then it too looked like it had gone through hell. The windows had been smashed to tiny particles and some of the walls were cracked. It had not completely escaped the wrath of the magics.

"Well," Barrett found his voice, scratching his head, " it's definitely looked better."

The others said nothing, only nodded wide-eyed in agreement. They just couldn't believe all this damage.

"C'mon," he waved them on," The quicker we move, the quicker we get results."

The others were still silent, but they fell in behind the big man. As they started nearing the ruins, they're attention was immediately drawn to the large number of Shinra soldiers advancing towards them. The party tensed as the guards grew nearer. As the soldiers drew withing shouting distance, they acknowledged the party.

"Off limits!", they waved them on, "turn back!"

"Hold on", Barret signaled over to them. 

One of the men broke away from the group as the others passed on, seemingly in quite a hurry. The man walked up to Barrett and issued his warning in a more civilized tone.

"Midgar is off limits travelers. The area is no longer safe. Please turn back," he spoke.

"Sorry, but we need to talk to Reeve," Barrett explained calmly. 

"Mr. Reeve is currently busy," the soldier once again informed.

"Yes.. but you see," Tifa held out her hands," we're his friends."

They all explained everything to the soldier and his face seemed to light up with understanding.

"Oh!," the man exclaimed," You're the people he's been waiting for."

"He's looking for us?", Red asked.

"Yeah," the soldier explained , eyeing Red strangely ," He's busy with the organization of rescue parties and repair crews. As you can see.. the city is in bad shape. So every Shinra guard and employee is out looking for survivors, and he's overseeing it. But he told us to inform him right away if you guys showed up."

Then the soldier gestured with his hands," Follow me."

IT was then that they were led up to the Midgar Sector 5 entrance door. As they grew closer to Midgar, they saw more and more people trekking away from the town, looking miserable, scared and lonely. Some had relieved grins, happy because meteor hadn't smashed into the planet. Others just wore blank stares. They passed them by one by one and it seemed as if the only ones walking toward Midgar were Tifa and the others.

As they neared the Sector entrance door, they saw that a group of Shinra soldiers were gathered about the doorway and many citizens were huddled there as well. Mostly all had forlorn, vacant eyes on their faces. Tifa saw one little girl crying as her mother comforted her, tears in her eyes as well.

"It's ok dear..,"she heard the mother say," I'm sure your daddy is fine...". 

But Tifa knew.. it wasn't true. Tifa started feeling the ache again.. but this time it was for all the people who had died here. 

The others were also silent, too busy staring at the devastation that Sephiroth had caused. Also knowing that it could have been much worse. 

They entered the Sector 5 slums then. What greeted them was horrifying. Metal from the plate above had apparently rained down on the Sector, smashing in the roofs of people's houses. The Shinra had been quick in retrieving the bodies so as if to make sure the public didn't have to endure even more horrible visions, but the crimson reminders were still there. Even though the slums were never particularly nice, at least there was some sense or order to it all. There was nothing like that now.

The once dirt filled streets were now covered with pieces of metal. Houses had been torn into and gutted, yet most buildings had remained unscathed. Cars had been overturned or wrecked onto the sides of residences. People were still frantically running about, looking for loved ones and calling out, only to have Shinra soldiers block their way if they approached anything dangerous.

"Damn...", Tifa could only mutter.

"It's actually not as bad as it looks. It's worse up top. Least these people had a the plate to shield them from that magic." the soldier sighed.

Suddenly another soldier started shouting,"Get out!! GET OUT!"

They looked over to see a man waving and then the building he was standing mere feet from started collapsing in on itself. Kicking up dust as the stone and marble fell, the party immediately sprang into action.

"Let's go!," Barret ordered, as they started to run towards the building.

"Don't worry!," another soldier ran up, holding out his hands to stop them," It's vacant. No one was inside."

"Are you sure?", Red shouted energetically.

"Yeah, we evacuated it awhile ago," the soldier explained.

Letting the energy flow out of them again, they slowly looked at the newly collapsed building and continued on through the damaged slums. Tifa thought about the bar she used to run and about the times she lived here. It had been dangerous, especially for a girl like herself to live in the slums, but she had always has business savvy. She remembered when she opened that bar, how happy she was to finally contribute a little something to the slums. Even if it was a momentary lapse in alcohol served by a pretty face. They were trying times, but at least she was happy. 

And then, Barrett, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie walked into her bar. And they became Avalanche. She thought about those things as she watched the Shinra soldiers now, aiding survivors and guiding them away from dangerous areas. How they complained and conveyed their thought about their missing loved ones. But finally listened to reason and agreed it was for the better. She knew exactly what they felt.

"Many people have died here," Tifa thought out loud," and some.. don't even know if the people hey love are still alive".

She paused, tilting her head down to look at the ground and shutting her eyes.

"Just like me...", she whispered. 

"Marlene...",she heard Barret mumble.

Tifa looked up at him. Barrett's face betrayed the shock that he was feeling. He knew that he was thinking, what if? What if Marlene had been caught in this armageddon? What if she had become one of the thousands of victims that had perished here. She knew that if it were true.. Barrett would not be able to hold back. That he was fighting to stay in control. 

"She's not dead," Tifa placed her small hand on his arm, reassuring him.

"Tifa..", Barrett turned to stare at her, "I... I want to believe that...".

"This way," the guard pointed towards a building," the staircase in here is accessible."

They all entered and started to climb the steps, each of them wishing for an easier way to get on top of the plate. 

"Huff.. Guess were heading for the Shinra Building," Barrett surmised, out of breath," huff.."

"Reeve and the upper management still work there," the soldier nodded his reply.

They climbed in silence until they had finally reached the top of the plate. As they exited the building they were once again greeted by the same sites that they had previously seen below. Groups of guards were busy waving on lines of citizens, directing them to safer areas. Work crews were busy shifting through rubble, hosing down small fires and searching for survivors. 

"We should help," Barrett found himself saying.

"I agree," Red thought out loud.

"Be careful where you walk," The soldier pointed towards a hole in the metal floor," There are many holes in the upper plate. If you step in one you may end up falling all the way down to earth."

They walked past the opening, each peering down at the slums that dotted the ground far below. 

"I know that I've always hated this town," Red commented," but still... nobody here deserved this."

"Hmph. I think Midgar had this coming," Yuffie frowned crossing her arms.

"Maybe...", Barrett half agreed, his voice trailing.

"We all hated this town for some reason," Tifa admitted, looking out towards the damaged neighborhoods," and yes.. maybe the Shinra got what it deserved... but the innocent people here.. THEY'RE the ones that have to suffer for it." 

"Yeah, but you watch.," Yuffie pointed out," By this time next year, the Shinra will be back in business."

"Oh no it won't," Barret stopped and turned to stare at Yuffie," I'll personally make sure that this-" and he waved his arm at the surroundings-"NEVER happens again. And that means closing the book on Shinra. THEY'RE will not BE another Shinra."

"Uh.. Aren't you forgetting that it was Sephiroth who caused this by making the meteor?", the soldier chanced.

"Yes, but it was Shinra that employed someone like Hojo, who 'coincidentally' is Sephiroth's father, that made Sephiroth into what he became. If not for Shinra's greedy ambitions, none of this would have occurred. Not to mention what other things Shinra has done..", Red growled, making his displeasure for Shinra known.

"O..ok," the soldier decided to quickly agree. 

They continued on through the damaged city, surveying the broken roads and smashed buildings. For the first time, it seemed the people living up here were no different then those below. It was truly ironic.

They all stopped. At last they had made it. Standing before them at the center of Midgar, was the most imposing structure ever in the city. Still standing tall, the Shinra building loomed over each one of them. Although it was damaged, with windows shattered and cracks along the walls, a pale shadow of it's former glory, The Shinra Building still emitted an eerie aura that made most stand in awe at the structure. It was the headquarters of Shinra and perhaps the center of the entire planet.

Even though Barrett and the others had visited the place before, they still couldn't prevent themselves from stopping in their tracks to gaze at the building. 

Red stepped back. This was the very place that he had been held captive by Hojo of Shinra Inc. referred to as a specimen, named Red number thirteen and used for the insane scientist's experiments. Red hated the place, His memories of the times here were so painful, he couldn't help but avert his gaze. He couldn't bear to remember.

Then again, he thought, this was the very place he had met Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, and Aeris.

He remembered that first meeting with Aeris. It had been yet another experiment by Hojo. He remembered how his platform had moved him into the container with the frightened girl. He had seen Cloud, Tifa and Barrett earlier, but now they were confronting Hojo. He remembered how scared Aeris was of him. And how everybody was rushing to save her. Then he smiled as his thought drifted to him attacking Hojo and then shocking everyone when he spoke to them. 

Memories of Aeris started to flood back to him then. He recalled how she liked patting him on the head as if he was her pet. But she had never treated him like an animal. Aeris and her friends had treated him with respect and kindness. They treated him like a person. He smiled.

"Red," Barret shouted from the building entrance," Ya coming?!"

"Huh?!,"Red was snapped out of his thoughts.

"Quit your daydreamin," Barret yelled over to him, "Come on!"

"Oh. Yes.", Red nodded as he continued on inside the building with his friends.

  
  


"That's better," Cloud remarked.

After stretching out from under his makeshift bed, he rose to the ground and proceeded to stretch his bones and muscles. His head was no longer clouded and fuzzy and the pain from his fall had grown to become a dull ache. He was feeling more and more like himself. After his morning stretch, he placed his armor back on and hooked his Blade onto his back. 

"Alright", he talked to himself," Time to look around."

With that he backtracked through the woods until he finally found the beach. Peering out at the deep blues of the sea and the sky, he found nothing on the horizon. He turned and looked back to the forest. The terrain didn't look at all familiar to him from there either. 

'Just where am I?' he thought.

He stared at the beach and then the ocean again. He kneeled down and grabbed a stick from the sand. He drew a circle through the grainy particles and then embedded the wood into the ground. He then walked away from the landmark and followed the shoreline, only straying to catch a wild beast for his dinner. All day he walked and it soon began to grow dark. As the sun sat on the watery horizon the ocean reflecting off the sun's deep shades of red and purple, he stopped to watch the colors. His eyes were focused and intense as he watched the sun's retreat and he felt a strange peaceful feeling inside. When he turned his head and began to walk again, he gazed upon a familiar site. It was the stick he had left in the middle of his sloppily made circle. 

He picked up the object again, examined it as if to make sure it was the same exact twig and then looked to the ocean again.

"Well, " he broke his silence," It's an island. A very small island too."

  
  


He listened to the waves crash up against the beach for awhile, waiting for the sun to at last fall to darkness. He turned and trotted back to the forest, where he settled down for the night. It was hard to sleep on the uncomfortable ground but Cloud was used to sleeping outside and so he quickly fell asleep.

He awoke the next day to find himself completely ache free. He smiled at the fact that he at last felt himself again, arose and stretched his muscles. Once he had gone through his morning exercise, he started to explore again. He decided to trudge deeper inland this time, and he found as he walked through the damp thickets that the musty leaves grew not in just size but in odor as well. It smelled unsurprisingly like plants. There was so much vegetation that sometimes it was hard to find a path, but it mattered little to Cloud as he could just create his own way with his sword. He also happened upon some goblin type monsters but they were no match for a warrior of his skill. To him, monsters were more annoying then dangerous, although he was cautious enough to watch his back. 

After the second day of wandering, he started to wonder if he would be able to leave the island. He highly doubted it, it was better to be realistic then hopeful. However, he knew that he could find a way. 

"Be nice if I found a Sea Chocobo," he sighed. 

The next morning, Cloud was once again ready for exploring. He was already into two hours of walking when he caught a new smell that had wafted across his nostrils. He though he imagined it at first, but he sniffed again and immediately realized that the smell was genuine. 

It was different from the musty smell of the forest and the salty air of the sea. The aroma was sweet and enticing. He looked around, trying to determine it's origin, and then started to push aside bushes and plants. He stopped once or twice, hoping he was going the right way and finally when it seemed the whole air was filled with the smell, he found himself stepping out into a clearing. 

Cloud paused to take in the sights. He beheld a small wooden house that sat at the far end of the cleaned out forest. It was small, it's logs showing a bit of rot, but it looked surprisingly sturdy. It's chimney was a bit slanted, but he could see that it was in no danger of falling.

In between him and the house, located slightly to the right of him sat a black cauldron perched over a small stone cooking area, it's lid clinking as steam rose from the sides. Cloud guessed that the sweet smell was originating from the pot. 

Curious, Cloud stepped further into the meadow and was suddenly greeted by a deep craggy voice.

"Well hello there," it said warmly. 

Leaning against a small tree to the right of the cauldron was a short bald knee high old man, with a full white beard that covered the bottom half of his face and draped over his chest. He wore brown pants, a green shirt and black gold buckled shoes. 

He stood upright, walked over to the steaming pot and lifted the lid.

"Got some stew cooking," he smiled as he peered at Cloud, " Want some?"

  
  


"Mr. Reeve is currently unavailable," spoke a tall mustached man in a black business suit," But you may wait for him in this room."

He gestured toward a lounge carpeted by a thin red rug and furnished with padded leather seats, a soft couch that rested against the wall, a coffee maker and a thirty two inch television that rested along the far wall. 

Barrett and company trudged into the room and while Yuffie skipped over to check out the T.V. the others turned to once again talk to the employee.

"Where is Reeve?", Barret asked.

"He's currently organizing work crews and assigning them to various areas in Midgar. He should be returning shortly.", the man informed.

"Well, we ain't waitin here all day," Barret scowled," If he don't hurry, we may just go lookin for him."

"I assure you sir, Mr. Reeve will be here," the man seemed to sweat as he left.

The door closed and Barret leaned against the wall.

"Shinra idiots..", he grumbled.

Tifa turned, spied the couch and walked over as Red hobbled over next to the static filled TV and sat on his haunches. After a short pause, red was the one to speak first. He confessed about how he really didn't like being in the Shinra building.

"I don't care for it either," Barret agreed,"Your not the only one."

"What's to like?" , Tifa waved her hand as she made herself comfortable on the couch.

There was again silence. Everything had been happening so fast. It was the first rest the party had received since before the big fight with Sephiroth. They were spent and exhausted. Maybe they did hate the Shinra building and it's occupants but they sure didn't complain about the free time. 

"I wonder how Cid is doing...?", Red thought out loud.

"Cid...," Tifa yawned as she placed her head against the sofa's cushions," I'm hope he's alight..".

"He's a tough old bird," Barret assured, " He'll make out."

"Yeah he better be alright," Yuffie chimed in, giving up on the TV," because I'm sure he'll be mighty interested about what you said about him."

Barret gave Yuffie a questioning look, "What? What's so bad about saying he's tough?"

"Nooo...", Yuffie played," You said that he's old."

Barret sighed, and then went back to leaning on his wall. They all decided not to speak for awhile, They wanted to enjoy their rest. Red laid on the carpet, twitching his tail. Yuffie tried playing with the TV again but was rewarded with only static. Barret kept leaning on the wall, grumbling about Shinra. And Tifa snuggled more deeply into the soft cushions, her thoughts again returning to Cloud. 

Thinking of him once again brought that deep tight feeling to her chest. She felt the lumps in her throat begin to build again as she closed her eyes. She wanted to think oh the happier times. So she thought about Cloud as a boy and how back then how he was trying to find ways to get her to notice him. She thought about how Barret and Cloud always argued over money back in the days of AVALANCHE. Barret had never met someone that was just as stubborn as he was, and she remembered how she had been smiling inwardly when they fought. Then she remembered seeing his concerned look as he chased her into Don Corneo's mansion, during her undercover investigation and what he had stooped to in order to follow her inside.

With the help of the happy thoughts of Cloud running through her memories and the extremely comfortable couch , she quickly fell asleep.

"I wonder why Vincent left...", Red softly thought again. He didn't like the eerie quiet, especially in this building and wanted to at least hear a voice.

"I don't know," Barret curtly replied.

"I'm kinda upset with him," Yuffie announced," He didn't even check to see if we were okay before he left, the jerk."

"Well, he must have had his reasons," Red talked," Vincent mostly keeps to himself. Maybe he had other pressing business."

"Maybe you oughta keep your voices down," Barret pointed his left arm at the sleeping girl,"Sides, I don't feel like talking about him right now."

Red nodded in understanding. Perhaps Barret had also been angered or hurt by Vincent's sudden departure, but he knew when not to push the subject. He still wanted to talk though.

"And then.. there's Cloud...", Red trailed.

"Shhhh!!", Barret shushed at Red.

"What is that about?", Red stood up onto his feet. 

Yuffie looked up from her failed experiments with the coffee maker. She had found the left overs in the pot extremely bitter.

"Look," Barret whispered.," i don't want you talking about Cloud. Not when Tifa's around. She's upset enough as it is."

Red took the hint, so he laid back down on the carpet. Maybe Barrett was right.. still he couldn't help wondering about his missing friend. He peered at the sleeping Tifa . It seemed to him that when Cloud had fallen into the sky that a piece of each of them had fallen with him. Cloud had made an impression on everyone, but now it was quite possible that he was gone. For good. He wanted to talk about Cloud with the others. Maybe it would be good for each of them to talk about it. He knew it would be good for him.

He growled heavily and then mumbled," I apologize. I was just... concerned about him is all."

"Yeah...", Barret thought aloud. He was thinking the exact same things as Red.

Cloud had always managed to prove him wrong whenever Barret had talked bad about him. In his view, Cloud had grown from being a money grubbing jackass to a person Barret Would gladly defend with his life. Although he didn't always have fond memories of Cloud, they were always filled with respect. Barret sighed.

The party spent a half hour in the waiting room, each busy thinking, resting or just plain sleeping. After about five more minutes, Barret had started to lose his patience. He turned toward the door and waited another minute.

"That's IT!", he growled," I'm done waitin."

Red looked up as Barret opened the door. Standing directly in front of the doorway was the very same man that had escorted them into the lounge. 

"Oh!," he gasped, startled.

"Be quiet," Barret warned nodding over to the sleeping Tifa.

"Sorry", the man whispered, taking note of her and composing himself.

He then continued, " Mr. Reeve will see you now."

"Bout time," Barret said menacingly.

"What about Tifa?" Red asked, walking toward the door.

"Hey Yuffie," Barret turned to her," Could you watch Tifa while we go and talk to Reeve?"

"Ok. Sure," Yuffie grinned.

Barret was about to leave but then caught himself and looked back.

"And don't think about stealing her Materia," Barret shot her a look.

"Aw man," Yuffie sat on a chair and pouted.

  
  


Cloud slowly stepped out of the forest. The old man was still standing by the pot of stew, smiling just as warmly as the contents. He picked up a reasonably clean bowl that had been lying on the ground, lifted up the pot lid and scooped the up some of the bubbling food.

  
  


"Who are you?", Cloud simply asked, walking towards the short little dwarf. 

"The question is... who are you?", he replied in his gruff low voice, " I rarely.. if ever.... get visitors." 

The man stood straight up and handed the food to Cloud. The soldier instinctively inspected it, just to make sure there was nothing insidious about the stew.

"It ain't poison. Nothing wrong with it. Ok.. maybe the bowl isn't exactly sparkling fresh, but that's a nice way of thanking somebody," the dwarf observed.

"Oh... sorry," Cloud apologized. 

Nonetheless, he was trained to inspect strange gifts, no matter how appealing they might seem. He also knew whether those gifts were tainted or not and upon inspection he knew the man was telling the truth. Nope... the food wasn't poisoned. Cloud gulped down the soup, enjoying each tasty morsel of meat, carrots, vegetables and gravy. It was the best meal he had eaten in weeks. 

"What do you think? Good huh?", The man beamed. 

"Yes... thank you. It was delicious.", Cloud gave his opinion.

"Made straight from the forest. Nobody can beat my stew! Which is to say... hard to disprove as I have no competition to speak of," The man boasted.

He walked over to a log that was laying besides the nearest tree and sat down on it. He pulled a small knife from his pockets and began to whittle at a piece of wood. Cloud watched him beside the pot lid until the man beckoned him closer. 

"So... ," the dwarf continued as Cloud walked closer," What name do you go by?"

"Cloud," he answered.

"Cloud....," the man repeated.

"And your name?", Cloud asked.

"My name?... hmmm...", the funny old man stopped to think,"...Y'know...it's been so long since I heard it... I don't remember!"

Cloud rolled his eyes. He believed that one. 

"So how long have you been here?", Cloud questioned.

"Well... I've been here for quite awhiles. I haven't talked to or seen anybody human for ages. I guess I like living the quiet life," he explained.

"So that makes you a hermit", Cloud mused, finally tired of standing and taking a seat on the grass in front of the hermit.

"Yeah...sums it up in a word,"The bearded man agreed.

Cloud looked into the hermit's eyes. They twinkled with a strange kind of warmness and glowing outlook. He didn't seem like the type to get easily upset.

"So... are you here voluntarily?", Cloud steered the conversation.

" I beg your pardon?", The hermit look puzzled.

"I mean... can you leave the island?", Cloud asked him what he wanted to know the most.

"Nope. I came here on purpose. I just love living by myself... out here with nature," He dashed Cloud's hopes.

"Oh...," Cloud's face slowly dissolved into disappointment as he looked at the ground.

"But I admit... it's nice having someone to talk to for a change.", the hermit spoke honestly.

"So... there is no way off the island?", Cloud repeated, hopeful that the dwarf might change his answer.

"I never looked for one," the dwarf shrugged.

Cloud stayed silent for a minute while the dwarf whittled away. Well... now he knew his situation. This man was the only person living on the island. Cloud knew that if there was a way to get to the mainland, this man would know. It only confirmed his suspicions. He was stuck on a deserted island with no apparent way of leaving. At least he had a dwarf to keep him company.

"Say, how did you get here?", the hermit broke the silence. Now it was his turn to ask questions.

"It's kind of a long story," Cloud sighed, remembering his fall," Let's just say I did some wind surfing and ended up here."

The hermit was confused, but he smiled at Cloud anyway.

"Well I guess we should all be glad that were alive. Especially after that huge meteor disappeared.," the hermit continued the conversation.

"Yeah...", Cloud agreed, his memories of Sephiroth returning.

"Well there is no way off this island... so your welcome to stay if you like," the hermit offered room and board.

"Thanks," Cloud nodded gratefully," but tomorrow I'll be going. I'm going to find a way to get back to Midgar. "

"Midgar?!", the hermit surprised Cloud," why the hell would you want to go there?!"

"My friends will probably be there," Cloud said simply.

"Tell me about your friends," the dwarf leaned back against the tree, trying to keep the conversation going. He was having a great time talking to Cloud.

Cloud thought a minute. He had to collect his thoughts on everybody.

"Well.... there's Barret," Cloud started the list," he's a pretty large man and a real grump. He sometimes gets on my nerves, but he's alright. His heart is in the right place and he's good in a fight."

The hermit listened intently as Cloud rambled on.

"Then there's Yuffie. She's a ninja from Wutai, but she a real brat. She's always trying to steal our Materia or con us out of Gil."

"Whoa. You got Materia?", the hermit interrupted.

"Yeah," Cloud nodded.

He stood up, reached over the back of his left shoulder, grasped the hilt of the Ultima Blade and unsheathed it. He turned his sword and held it with both his hands, and then pointed to the materia slots in his weapon. He showed off Bahamut Zero, Knights of the Round, Mastered Cure, Mastered Lightning and Command materia.

The hermit's face conveyed to Cloud that he was clearly impressed.

"Sheesh. That IS some fancy materia. I've seen much of it in my days, but i have never seen as many rare stones as you have." The hermit said enviously.

"Yes. Well some were hard to get," Cloud shrugged, remembering the past adventure.

"That's a unique blade also. I have never seen a sword like that," the dwarf was insanely curious.

"Yes, I had a helluva time obtaining this sword. And there is no way I am going to lose it either," he thought, peering at the strange red and blue aura that the blade gave off.

He sheathed his sword and then found a small rock to sit on. The hermit returned to leaning on the tree.

"So... do you have any more friends?" the hermit returned to the original subject.

"Well, there is Red XII. He is a pretty unique individual. He looks like a cross between a wolf and a lion," Cloud thought about the animal.

"So a pet then?"

" Ha. No.", Cloud snickered," he isn't. He can speak our language and he is well spoken. He's smart and great in a fight. We have never considered him less then a pet."

"Interesting," the man listened.

"Then we have Cid. He's a great pilot. I could never learn to fly or control anything as well as he does. And he knows his machinery. He uses some pretty bad expletives, but I trust him.", Cloud went on.

There was a pause as he though of his friends and then continued.

"There is Cait Sith and Vincent. They're both... different...Vincent is a bit mysterious for me, but i guess people can say that same about me. And as for Cait Sith well.... I hope I can trust him. They're both former Shinra employees and although I never liked Shinra, it's not true that everyone who works there is bad."

"Shinra.... isn't that the corporation that produces those reactors and places them all over the world?", the dwarf supposedly guessed.

"Yeah, that's right. Y'know... for a hermit you sure know a lot." Cloud changed his tone with a hard look.

"Well... i knew about Shinra before I came here," came the hermit's reason.

Cloud stared at him. His brow lowered as he peered intently at the small bearded man. Cloud knew that there was more to him than just being a mere hermit and it made cloud wonder what was so important that the hermit seemed to be hiding. Of course he was just speculating. The man could be telling the truth. But Cloud was experienced enough to know better.

"Please go on...," the hermit pushed on.

"Well, then there's Tifa...", Cloud spoke.

As soon as he said her name he stopped. Tifa. He imagined her face, her darkened hair as it swept through the evening breeze. He remembered her facial features to be smooth and soft, full of color and inviting to the touch. He pictured her in her cute cowgirl outfit.. the one she wore in Nibelhiem. Even though he had never talked to her openly.. he still thought of her as cute in that outfit. Tifa was cute in anything. Even when she was wearing an angry look, she was beautiful. But most of all... she was the most beautiful when she smiled at him.

The hermit curved his mouth into a small smile. He knew exactly what Cloud's silence meant. He knew exactly what Tifa meant to Cloud because he had seen that vacant look before. 

"I...I've gotta get off this island," Cloud whispered.

"Well... if you really need to go, why don't you build a ship?", the hermit answered simply.

"What?", Cloud picked his head up and again gave the hermit a hard look.

"Your young. Your extremely well built, so I bet your plenty strong.," the dwarf waved his hand toward the forest, "and you have plenty of material to work with."

"A ship", Cloud pondered.

"It doesn't have to be fancy. It just has to work. I'll even help if you want," the hermit offered.

"Thank you," Cloud slowly smiled. 

He walked up and offered his hand which the hermit gladly accepted. 

"It shouldn't take long," the hermit assured.

Cloud left then, and made his way back down to the beach. He quietly gazed out over the horizon, thinking once again about the woman he had left behind. He knew that one day, he would see her again. But he wondered how she was now. He couldn't help feel some pang of guilt for being trapped here.. unable to return.

"I'll be back soon Tifa.", Cloud spoke to the ocean," I''m coming back for you."

  
  


Cid could scarcely believe it. It had taken a many steps and a lot of patience, but Condor fort finally appeared out over the horizon. He stopped to smoke another cig, gazing at the ruined reactor that appeared so far ahead of him. He knew that he still had a ways to walk.

"It'll be good to get some real grub," he grouched. 

As he started to walk again toward the structure, his thoughts wandered back to the mythril residing in the cave. He knew that since Mako was now unuseable that people were going to be looking for an alternative energy source. And he knew that before Mako became the popular choice of energy, even when Shinra wasn't literally forcing the world to use it, that Mythril was a highly valued resource. He also realized that the Highwind could be used as the perfect cargo vehicle and since he owned it... The thoughts of a new business started to emerge.

Cid shook his head and pouted. He had more pressing issues on his mind at the moment. For one..he needed to get back to Midgar and rejoin his friends. Condor fort would be his first stop and the he knew the trek to Junon would be even longer. He also had to think about how to get his poor ship out of the stinky slimy swamp.

"Get away from me!!!", a high pitched growling voice took Cid directly out of his thoughts.

He stopped and looked around for the source of the voice and then ran to a small outlook. When he managed to draw near to the edge, he turned his eyes downward and beheld directly below him the very same wolf that he had encountered in the Mythril cave. But it wasn't alone... it was backing away from five soldiers dressed in pitch black uniforms. 

"C'mon you," one of the soldier's spoke to it,"it's for your own good."

"No... I don't want to go with you. You can't make me," the wolf growled, shaking it's head no.

You have no choice," the same soldier shouted and then ordered his men to grab it.

They dove for the animal, but it jumped aside, easily evading their grips.

"Just leave me alone!", it howled.

But at that split second, two other men jumped out from behind the rocks in back of the animal. They managed to cath the wolf by surprise and grab the white furred creature from behind.

"No!", it growled, turning to bite away the soldier's hands. 

But it was too late. The other group of men rushed in and pinned it to the ground.

"Let me go," it struggled, trying to get loose," Help. HELP!"

"No one is going to hear ya, Misty," the loud soldier laughed," Give her a tranquilizer to calm her down."

Just then another one of the uniformed men reached into his equipment belt and pulled out a syringe. He kneeled down over the furiously struggling beast and injected it with a drug.

It was at that point that Cid had seen and heard enough. He didn't know what this was about, but he did know that the animal was crying out for help and nothing he had seen made him believe the creature deserved such treatment. Readying his spear, he leapt off the side of the small bluff.

Two of the guards suddenly each felt on of Cid's feet smack into the back of their heads. This sent them sprawling onto the ground, holding onto the backs of their skulls. 

"What in the hell?", the other guards turned to gaze at the newcomer.

"Who in the hell are you," the loud soldier yelled, apparently the commander of this unit of men.

"I'm the humane society," Cid barked back as he straightened up," And I'm here to discuss your treatment of this animal."

"I suggest that you go about your business pal," the commander warned, as his men started to surround the lone Cid.

At exactly that point, the wolf sprang from it's position and bolted away from the scene, heading towards the outline of Condor Fort. The startled men reacted by turning once more to grab the wolf, but it was far too late as the animal was well out of harm's way.

"Dammit!!!", one of the men cursed.

"You idiots!!!",the commander hollered," Why the hell did you let go of it?! You stupid fu%^ing pr*cks!!"

But then the commander turned his focus back onto Cid. The engineer grinned, puffed on his cigar and flicked away some of it's ashes.

"You! It's all your fault!!," the commander pointed his right finger at Cid," Do you know how long we've waited to finally capture that beast?! God dammit!!!"

"Well," Cid smirked, pausing to puff more of his cigar,"I kind of have this thing when it comes to soldiers and the army ganging up on people."

"Oh you do, huh?", the commander gritted his teeth," Well then, why don't we gang up on you instead?! Take him out!!"

The soldiers each tried to rush up and tackle Cid, but he just sighed and then back flipped through the air, pulled out a stick of dynamite while in mid leap, lit the end of it with his cigar as he landed and tossed it directly into the mass of oncoming uniforms.

Five soldiers were literally tossed through the air in five different directions where they finally met the ground and unconsciousness. Then Cid charged toward the rest of the men with his spear, using his weapon to club each and every soldier in the head. With his speed and skill it took less then a minute for the battle to be over. Now all but him and the commander was still standing.

He was stood there, gap jawed, peering at Cid.. one lone man who had managed to defeat his entire unit singlehandedly. 

"I-Idiots," he muttered under his breath and then upholstered his gun and pointed it directly at Cid.

"Shit... what are you going to do with that? Just quit before you wind up like them," Cid scowled, growing impatient.

"You.... you ruined it. You ruined everything!!," the guy screamed," My chance for a promotion... gone... because of you!!!"

"Oh... is that it?", Cid spoke sarcastically putting his hand to his forehead," I'm very sorry. I apologize."

"Yeah... I'm sure..," the commander steamed,"I'll accept your apology with your life".

Cid had enough," Shit.. are you going to talk me to death or are we going to F!^*ing fight?!!"

The man howled and forgetting that he still had his gun in his hand, leapt for Cid in a clouded and furious anger. Cid spun his spear like a baton and smacked the flat end of his weapon right into the man's face. He fell onto his knees, holding his nose. Cid simply smoked on his cigar, turned his heel and once again started to walk toward the direction of the fort. 

"I really hope this taught you a lesson," He shouted back at the injured man, who was at that point, slowly picking himself back up onto his feet. 

He aimed is gun towards the back of Cid's neck and gritted his teeth, clicking back the hammer.

"You... won't... get... away....with.. this...", he whispered as he started to pull the trigger.

Out of the blue, a bolt of lightening jumped from the clouded sky and struck the man squarely on the chest. He slumped to the ground, his gun dropping from his hand. Cid placed his green materia back into his pocket and sheathed his spear before returning to his trek towards the reactor. He also remembered that the wolf he had just saved had ran the same direction. Perhaps he thought, the folks there had answers.

It hadn't took him long to finally reach the place. He stopped to look straight up at the mountain before him. Embedded deep into the rocks laid a huge reactor that had been created by the Shinra. It rested at the peak of the mountain and overlooked the surrounding valley that circled the fort. Normally the ground was all mud and rocks.. brown and lifeless... but Cid had noticed that the area was now littered with grass and shrubs. It took a second to realize the fact that he was actually standing at the foot Of Condor Fort. The reactor's familiar green glow had diminished... it's ability to suck up Mako extinguished by the Lifestream's battle with Meteor.

Cid took a moment to recall some of the past moments that had brought them to this fort, when Cloud and the rest was asked to lead an army against The Shinra to fight for the base. The residents occupying the fort had turned against Shinra, to protect a Condor, a huge bird the size of the reactor itself, that had decided to use the fort's ceiling as a nesting place. The rare bird rarely bred, but Shinra had no care for that, they had just wanted to kill the poor animal because it was interrupting the Mako flow... interrupting cash flow.

Cid dug into his pockets and pulled out a familiar red stone. The Summon materia... Phoenix. This was the exact place where he had found it. He examined the stone and then looked at the reactor. He placed it back into his pockets and then climbed toward the entrance.

As he neared the doorway to the inside, he noticed that several people were gathered around it, causing some sort of commotion. 

"Hello," he greeted as we closed the gap between him and the entrance.

The people stooped their conversation and peered up at him without saying a word. They did not look happy. Cid had the strange feeling that he wasn't welcome.

After standing there for a minute, at last one of the monks spoke to him.

"You bastard. What are you doing here?," he snorted," You can't have her. Leave."

"What?", Cid wore a confused look.

"Look... haven't you done enough?! Just leave!", another of the men shouted more angrily, waving him away.

"What the hell did I do?!", Cid's patience had just about run out.

The men stared at Cid in disbelief. One of them even grabbed for his weapon.

"You are so arrogant that you feign ignorance?! However, we all know that what you really want is Misty," the monk at the front of the group told," Well... you can't have her!!"

"Who in the fu$%ing hell is Misty and what in blazes are you talking about?!", Cid became cross.

"All right. That is it. We are going to escort you out. The hard way," the men exclaimed.

Cid grabbed for his spear.

"That gentlemen is ENOUGH!!", a voice boomed from the entrance.

Everybody whirled around to catch the person who had issued the command. The figure emerged from Condor Fort's entrance and Cid immediately recognized him as the man who wore the funny cowboy clothes and sat at the table in Condo Fort's rest area. 

"Chief..", The men bowed.

"I cannot believe you all. Are you so blind as to not recognize one of our friends?", the elder scolded each one of them.

They all again stared at Cid, but none of them seemed as if they knew what the elder was saying.

"This man is from Cloud's group," the chief announced.

"What?!", the people turned to gaze at the smoking Cid again.

After a moment of waiting the men at last dropped their weapons. When Cid stepped closer they all realized that the elder had been right. Feeling severe guilt, the bowed before Cid and started to slink off. One man walked up to him and offered up his hand in apology.

"I am sorry.", he explained," I suppose we were so furious that we didn't stop to think."

"What are you so mad about?" Cid asked.

The man quickly dodged the question,"Oh... uhhh.. nothing really."

Cid raised an eyebrow. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was up. He knew that the white wolf had ran in this direction and it was probably the reason why the people here were so upset. He knew this "Misty" was here.

The chief quickly placed his left hand on Cid's right shoulder and beckoned him to come inside. He explained to Cid that his men had been very stressed over the whole ordeal with Meteor and had become very jumpy whenever a new visitor approached. They hated Shinra.. and so were suspicious of everyone who might even look like an executive. Cid knew it was all a lie.

"But come," the elder welcomed," You must be tired from such a long journey. Please rest here for a bit."

"Thanks," Cid thanked. 

They climbed up into the main hall via a rope ladder and Cid plopped down in one of the chairs and placed his feet onto the large dinning table that sat in the main room. Cid relaxed against the seat... feeling his muscles ache thank you's as he gave them a much needed respite. 

"Please prepare this man a meal," the elder called over to another monk who had been standing in the main hall. 

"Sounds really good to me," Cid licked his lips, as the monk disappeared up another rope ladder opposite the one they had just emerged from.

Another monk appeared from the ladder just minutes after and plopped a mug of ale onto the table in front of Cid. The pilot's eyes widened as he grabbed the glass and downed the whole mug in one gulp. He belched and appeared extremely happy. He hadn't tasted anything THAT good in years.

"It is good to see you," The elder took another seat at the table to the left of Cid. Cid just side glanced him as he finished his beer. 

"Sir," another man ran into the hall with a hurried look.

He ran over to the elder and whispered something into his ear, which caused the chief to immediately stand up and head for the exit. 

"I am sorry," he gave his excuse," I must finish some business first, but afterwards I shall return."

"Alright. Fine", Cid waved him on.

He sat in his chair... to tired to move. But not to tired to curse to himself.

"Shit... they think and act like i don't know anything," he thought," How stupid do they think I am?"

He rapped his knuckles on the table as he waited for the elder and his dinner. At that moment, the first monk who had been standing in the room had returned carrying a plate of steaming Zemzelett meat, Chocobo carrots and mashed taters.. Sitting the plate directly in front of Cid, the hungry engineer sat upright and felt his mouth water as he looked at the plate of goodness. 

It was the best food he had smelled in days. He prayed to the Lifestream for being so generous in allowing him to receive such an award as he dug into the delicious tasting food. 

"Is it to your liking?", the man bowed.

Cid replies with smacks and gulps as his mouth closed over chunks and pieces of his meal. It took him less then ten minutes to lick the whole plate clean.

"That hit the spot," he belched, patting his stomach.

It wasn't long afterwards that the elder returned, much more composed then when Cid had last saw him. He again greeted Cid and apologized for the previous rudeness.

"It's over. And you fed me. All is good," Cid answered as he lit another cig.

The elder bowed and sat in the left chair again.

"So, what brings you out here? Why are your friends not with you?", the elder understandably asked.

Cid then told him the whole story. How he had crashed the Highwind into the swamp and then how he had journeyed to the fort. The elder shook his head in acknowledgment.

"Ahh.. I see. That is pretty terrible. I do hope everyone is alive.", the elder sighed.

Cid shook his head and after that there was a brief pause. Cid decided that there was no reason to beat around the bush. He cut to the chase.

"Tell me elder, what exactly is going on here?", he gave the elder a chance.

"Excuse me?", the elder suddenly looked away from Cid's gaze.

Cid scuffed the table as he placed his boots on the top of the table again. 

"Your not foolin me. I had a little confrontation just outside of your fort with a few soldier boys. It concerned a little white wolf. A wolf that speaks."

'That is.... interesting," The elder spoke slowly," But.. why are you telling me this?"

"Shit!!", Cid's mouth turned into a scowl as he sat up and locked the elder straight into the eye," the damn wolf ran this way! And when I arrived here, everyone was ready to tear my head off! I don't think it's coincidence."

The elder paused a moment, looking down at the grainy table.. possibly thinking wether or not he should continue. Cid was becoming more flustered by the minute. He didn't like to be lied to. Finally the elder broke his defense.

"Yes. I suppose we should not hide it from you," he trailed,"Yes. That wolf is here."

Cid sat down again and reached for the glass handle of another mug of ale that one of the monks had brought to him..

"I thought so," Cid's face lightened up,"But why be so secretive about it?"

"Because..", the elder answered,"...Because people are after it. Please let me explain."

Cid sipped his ale, sloshing it around in his mouth this time to enjoy every bit of it. It was bitter to the taste, but it left his mouth feeling warm and bubbly. He allowed the liquid to slide down his throat and drew his attention to the cowboy.

"The wolf's name is of course Misty. Yes, she speaks. We don't know why that is, but she does. You see... Misty is one of the few mysteries that we here at Condor Fort strive to protect. We don't know why and we don't care where she comes from. All we do know is that she started to come here about five years ago... around the time of the war."

"So this wolf lives here?", Cid stated,"Well.. I've never seen her. And the others would have probably mentioned it."

"She comes here... but she doesn't live here," the elder spoke," Our guess is that her home is somewhere on the plains. A fair guess would say that it is probably around here. But she is wild and free. The only time she does visit our fort is when she unable to hunt for food or if she feels that she is in danger."

"Ah," Cid listened," Y'know... from what little I've seen of her... well... she kind of looks like our friend... Red XII."

"Oh.. you mean that red animal that travels around with you guys? Yes... we have noticed that. However. She has never been to the fort at the times you have come to visit, so It is very hard to compare. And I doubt that she's ever seen you or him. If she had she never spoke anything about that to me." the elder finished.

"Alright.. so who were the guys chasing her?", Cid turned the subject.

"Well.. I cannot honestly say. They dress like Shinra... so naturally we assumed it was just them. But... isn't Shinra disbanded?", he answered.

"News travels fast," Cid commented.

"Misty however says that she is afraid of staying here because of the fact that whomever is after is might be willing to fight us to get her. She doesn't want that to happen," The man looked as though he wanted to end the discussion.

"Well, I dunno," Cid ignored the slightly tired look,"The Shinra are supposed to have been shut down, but I will have to talk to reeve about that to make sure. Even if he is still running Shinra..I don't believe he'd condone this."

"Perhaps....", the elder wondered.

"I'll talk to him about it. But first.. I guess I'll have to find a f&^*ing way back to Midgar,"Cid cursed, sipping the last vestiges of ale from the humongous glass.

"I am sorry we cannot help.. We simply have no forms of transportation,"The elder tried to finish once again," but please... feel free to rest here."

"Yeah... thanks", Cid took up the offer.

At least he had a warm bed and a roof tonight.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
